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Up the City!

Llew Beaton

Saturday, November 9th, 2013

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 When I was young in days of old,
Football wasn’t always pretty,
More rough and tough, that sort of stuff…
While we all cheered “Up the City!”

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 Folk in thousands at the games,
Some earnest, others witty,
We’d applaud when our team scored…
With shouts of “Up the City!”

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 The sport seems scientific now,
Which is something of a pity,
Good on the whole, but has lost some soul…
‘Cause we don’t hear “Up the City!”

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 So I feel nostalgic for those times,
When things were more nitty-gritty,
Durban’s might wore blue and white…
And crowds roared “UP THE CITY!”

© Llew Beaton 9 November 2013

Notes

In my birthplace, South Africa, there was a long history of amateur football, but the professional game did not kick off until 1959. My local team was Durban City and the cry “Up the City!” spurred them on to become the first National Football League Champions.

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/up-the-city/