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Ballad for the Belfast Boy

Patrick B. Osada

Friday, December 2nd, 2005

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 The first time we saw Georgie
He was just a skinny kid
Brought in for the missing Babes
We remember what he did –

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 He was the man…

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 His footwork was audacious –
He could leave a team for dead –
Defenders were bamboozled
As he scored with foot or head –

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 Played like a dream…

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 He soon became top scorer
And the Player of the Year,
When he’d turned just twenty-two
He was better than his peers –

6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 He was the Best!

7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 He found a lot of new friends
And the ladies loved his eyes –
He built himself a new home
But there was no where he could hide –

8 Leave a comment on verse 8 0 He was a star…

9 Leave a comment on verse 9 0 He started missing training
And the press were on his case :
Reporting on his love life,
All that clubbing , such a waste –

10 Leave a comment on verse 10 0 He did it all…

11 Leave a comment on verse 11 0 So he found himself a secret
Way to keep on feeling high –
He did n’t need a dentist’s chair,
George was rarely ever dry –

12 Leave a comment on verse 12 0 Drink was his friend…

13 Leave a comment on verse 13 0 His fame brought many changes
And the vultures came to call,
Like Greavesie he hit benders
But he did n’t need a ball –

14 Leave a comment on verse 14 0 Life was a blur…

15 Leave a comment on verse 15 0 The King grew fat in Vegas
While the Beatles came undone –
All those swinging days were ending
And the end had just begun –

16 Leave a comment on verse 16 0 George walked away…

17 Leave a comment on verse 17 0 He tried to stop his drinking
And to be his charming self;
The wagon left without him –
Found a bottle on the shelf –

18 Leave a comment on verse 18 0 Bringing him down…

19 Leave a comment on verse 19 0 Last place we saw Georgie
Was a tabloid photograph :
Look and see what drink has done
As it stole away my life…

20 Leave a comment on verse 20 0 Shankley was right!

21 Leave a comment on verse 21 0 Pundits replayed his talents,
Critics remembered the booze,
Fans recalled a complex man
Who always hated to lose…

22 Leave a comment on verse 22 0 Hated to lose…

23 Leave a comment on verse 23 0 And how the fans applauded
As they crowded his home ground,
Tribute to a genius,
On a banner, written down :

24 Leave a comment on verse 24 0 Simply the Best …
Georgie was Best.

© Patrick B. Osada 02/12/05

Notes

I don’t often write poems about sport, but felt compelled to write this one.
For more about my work please visit my website at :
www.poetry-patrickosada.co.uk

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/ballad-for-the-belfast-boy/