Football Poets

FA Cup third round day

¶ 1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 You must have heard the rumour
It’s out there in the public domain
Everybody’s talking about it
It’ll dominate the back pages
For one sumptuous weekend
In football’s golden carriage
It’s FA Cup third round day
Of days
Last night, tonight
Quite possibly
But it has to be
Since football has no time line
No recognisable reference point
The FA Cup spread out like
A multi coloured blanket
A tableau of silks and satins
Organza and taffeta
It’s a weekend of stunning
Rosettes but sadly few
Rattles since that seems
Like some historic anthem
From an antediluvian age
Where rationing and austerity
Met face to face
In 1940s and 50’s
Imposing grandeur
The FA Cup
Has ancestral class
Across the wide expanses
Of market towns, heaving
Shopping centres,
Snoring villages who just
Live their lives
To the full
Loving that one specific
Day when the big boys are
In town again
Then wake up on Saturday mornings
And discover Wembley could be
Their Lottery ticket or a
Hundred birthdays rolled into one
There goes the local blacksmith
Forging his or her path to glory
The whistling postman or
Postwoman, among
Wonderful wisteria
It has to be the year of the underdog
They may cry
The Non League giant killers
Are waiting their cue
The carpenter and
Supermarket shelf stacker
Are convinced that this
Could be their year of years
And from the shady nooks of
The past and yesteryear
We remember Sutton, Yeovil,
Leatherhead, Blyth Spartans
Who could forget them?
They represented the fragments
Of our memories that will always
Be in our hearts and minds
They were the ones who defied
All conventions, omens
And superstitions
Since the FA Cup does like
To leave us breathless
And never goes according to
The script
Particularly the ties
That go completely off
On a tangent
Of course it’s a day
For dreamers and fantasists
Mud splattered unknowns
Once trapped in obscurity
But now renowned
For toppling Goliaths
Glass of milk in hand
The perfect calcium reward
For gutsy and brave hearted
Endeavours
Rolling up their sleeves
And taking on Manchester City,
Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea
At their own game
Feisty and fiery
Never say die moments
Of gargantuan gallantry
Helluva heroism
Let the good times roll
For Kidderminster Harriers
Courage and daring
For breakfast, please
And don’t forget the toast
To lesser mortals
But enormous pluck
Determination oozing
From every sweat stained
Shirt sponsored striker
Or full back
By local timber merchants
The FA Cup third round
Grounded, no airs and graces
Just the one day in the
Football year
Where form and flights of fancy
Take a brief weekend break
To some exotic island
And just shock and surprise us
It could be the year of the
Non League giant
Upsetting the apple cart
Or just the way it should be
A romantic rendezvous
Simply enchanting
To you and all football
Folk with hope

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