Football’s Second Nature
The day England played Portugal,
My daughter, Charlotte, left for Geneva,
And that dawn, I watched a skein of ducks
Silhouette the widening, reddening sky,
While I stood staring, thinking of her in her ‘plane,
While I stood staring, stuck in my suburban back garden.
But I love my Stroud suburbs, all that Edwardian red brick,
The church glebe allotments and the open day front gardens,
The dusty nettles in the cracked mortar of the front walls,
The couch grass in the alley on the way down to the newsagents,
The sign saying “Your local shop”, (What else could it be?),
The meadow and the common just up the steep hillside,
The old orchard just below the allotment plots,
The woodpecker flitting through the trees,
The branches cut down whilst still in blossom,
The 21st century scene of John Clare melancholy,
The kingfisher on the river, the heron on the canal,
The news of Swindon Town F.C.,
Failing in its bid to build a new stadium
On the site of an old rubbish tip,
Newly reclaimed land, planted with thousands of trees,
A new deciduous home to deer and fox and badger and otter,
And regenerated woodland flora that thought its time had gone,
A community forest with trees dedicated to departed loved ones.
Thank Goodness that this ecological delight
Has escaped the monoculture of a football pitch,
And all that hot air of cars and managers and coaches,
A reclaimed rubbish tip saved for the community,
A home for diverse evolution and experiment,
The invalidation of my wife’s claim that
“I’ve tidied this shed loads of times
But whenever I come back it’s just the same.
When are you going to chuck out those old football programmes?”
About This Site
Welcome to Football Poets -- a club for all football poets, lovers of football and lovers of (alternative) poetry. Discover poets in every league from respected internationals at the top of their game to young hopefuls in the school playground.
Publish your football poems here and then discuss them with your team mates and fans. We're archived by The British Library, so your masterpieces are in the safe hands of a world-class keeper. What a result!
My Account
Latest Poems
joe morris
3rd September 2024
Denys E. W. Jones
3rd September 2024
joe morris
26th August 2024
Crispin Thomas
26th August 2024
joe morris
22nd August 2024
Mike Bartram
20th August 2024
Phil Brennan
20th August 2024
joe morris
17th August 2024
Rowan Waller
17th August 2024
Alex Saynor
12th August 2024
Crispin’s Corner
In Memoriam
Kick It Out & Christmas Truce
Latest Comments
26th July 2024 at 6:25 pm
Great poem Mike Bartram. Eddie was a legend, affectionately known in Liverpool as, “the first hooligan.” Even the hoolies were well dressed in those days. The amazing thing was he was only 26 when that picture was taken. He’d played for Everton youth team and was well known to the players. He never got arrested. They threw him out and he climbed back in, just in time for Derek Temples winner.
I used the picture of him being tackled to the ground on the front cover of my book, “Once Upon a rhyme in Football.” It’s worth looking on youtube and finding the re-enactment of the Wembley scene. Frank Skinner and Baddiel went around to Eddies home in the 1990’s and acted it out on the green outside. It’s hilarious, especially all the effort they put in to get Eddie sober enough to shoot the scene.
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10th July 2024 at 6:07 pm
Hi Crispin,
I don’t know if you’ve see the picture in social media today…
a picture of a teenage Lionel Messi cradling a baby in Africa as part of a photoshoot…. the family had won a lottery to have their baby pictured with him….
the photographer has just revealed that the baby is actually in fact Lamine Yamal!!!!
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26th May 2024 at 2:30 pm
Hi Denys…
Re Man City:
OK it was 20 years ago but Criag Wilson did write this and a few others on them back in 04/05.
BTW I’m more Forest Green Rover since 2014 (and Chelsea) these days . I drum and am a standing season ticket holder .
Best
Crispin
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29th April 2024 at 2:47 pm
Hi Denys,
Yes Richard Williams you’re a brilliant wordsmith, my friend. When I first saw your football poetry I thought it was the superb Guardian sports and music writer. I once had the honour of sitting next to Richard Williams while at the Independent on the sports desk. He writes about music and sport with immense knowledge and authority. I’ve read a couple of Richard’s books recently. Great writer rather like you Richard Williams the Pompey fan. Congratulations on promotion.
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28th April 2024 at 5:59 pm
Thanks Denys. Yes your replay poem was superb.
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26th April 2024 at 4:46 pm
Nice work, Joe. You were quick off the mark with that! Good one from Richard Williams too I see.
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25th April 2024 at 7:33 pm
Hi Denys,
Thanks mate. I’ll do it now.
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25th April 2024 at 1:56 pm
Thanks Joe,
you might like to write a poem yourself on the same subject…
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23rd April 2024 at 4:03 pm
Hi Denys
With you all the way on the abolition of FA Cup replays. What are they doing to the game?
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23rd April 2024 at 3:59 pm
Hi Crispin,
Yes sorry mate. Villa are still in Europe. Mistake rectified.
Cheers
Joe
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