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One Morning at Battersea Funfair (2005/6 Season)

Alex Saynor

Tuesday, February 4th, 2014

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 One morning, at Battersea Funfair, I noticed Mike Withers.
He always wore a dark grey tracksuit, whether in the pub
or working, but was usually in Southwark. Normally
he had London Pride, but today was holding coconuts.
The state I found him in, on the day after our relegation,
I was in too; the disbelief and dishevelment-
the crazed familiarity with strangers

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 But I knew that Mike would never drift out to Greenwich
and there mutate from Lion to Addick:
a Millwall fan and of health advice, probably,
in contravention, but Mike was rarely found out
of his element: back in Southwark, back on the Fullers,
we imagined our winter trip to the Orient

© Alex Saynor 2014

Notes

Although Battersea Funfair has long been discontinued, I wanted to find a fictional location to express the sense of displacement caused by relegation and the impending need to travel to different parts of the capital and the country to watch the team play.

Editor’s note:

Welcome Alex!

Thank you for sharing this great poem, capturing a feeling that we’ve all shared!

Some fans more often than others, unfortunately!

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/one-morning-at-battersea-funfair-20056-season/