Football Poets

The last four of the FA Cup semi finalists

¶ 1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 And so we move to the last four
Of the FA Cup, the semi finalists
Seamlessly right
Continuity assured
Deeply woven into FA Cup history
Firstly Brighton and Manchester United
4O years since poor Gordon Smith
Missed a sitter in front of Gary Bailey
How the heavens wept
United beat Brighton in the
1983 FA Cup Final
But as if divine fate
Had reunited both United
And Brighton 40 years later
For a Friends Reunited reunion
A coincidence perhaps
But history and symmetry
In perfect union.
The Regency residences
With their imposing
Pristine facades
Timeless as the
Vivid verandas
Reflective windows
Of another gilded age
Reminiscent of Victorian
Balls and waltzes
Within genteel society
Polite company
Of dukes and duchesses
Quite possibly oblivious
Of the lower parlours
And sculleries so beneath them
So Brighton meet United
Again. The Seagulls
Have scores to settle
With the glamorous Red Devils
Brighton bring back the Cup
To the South Coast
After a brief occupation
At Pompey when
Portsmouth paraded the Cup
To the discerning hordes
Of thousands and thousands
In 2008, when none of
Us could ever have imagined
That Cardiff would be FA Cup Final
Opponents in the year’s
Most unlikely and improbable
Meeting of great minds
Harry Redknapp claimed his
Only piece of silverware
But how richly deserved
Brighton and Hove Albion
Light up the pavilion
In its richest Wembley colours
Glory can be scented
But then it’s Manchester United
Lurking in the crepuscular shadows
Another FA Cup in their
Beautifully decorated trophy cabinet
Realistically but who knows?
Meanwhile City their noisy neighbours
Face Yorkshire stainless steel
Sheffield United, Blades waiting
In the wings, sharp, cutting a swathe
Through current form and seemingly
Without a hope but this is the FA Cup
On the surface though
The FA Cup is privately hoping
For its romantic rendezvous
Amid the flickering candle lit
Restaurant tables of football’s
Incurable idealists
Who raise a glass for
That elusive fantasy
Manchester City play Manchester United
In this year’s FA Cup Final
It can’t happen but maybe it will
Now that has the makings of
A thunderous and orchestral
Confrontation, Manchester locked
In the ultimately epic battle
Football boiling, seething with
Local bitterness, bittersweet
Memories of past encounters
Needle puncturing good natured animosity
But that’s a contradiction in terms
The FA Cup
It never fails to enchant

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