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Bennett You’re Offside

Robbie Kennedy Bennett

Tuesday, January 16th, 2007

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 When first I kicked a ball,
I was very small,
Selected to play upon the wing.

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 I had a wee bit of pace,
An average kind of face,
From the bye line I made the ball ping.

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 I thought that I was in heaven,
When he gave me the shirt number seven.
Nothing that day could dent my pride,
They called me Bennett You’re Offside.

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 Just a wee lad of nine,
Following instructions to hug the line.
I remember I scored a goal that day,
A life in the game I was well on my way.

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 I’ve lay in a hospital bed,
With blood oozing from a wound in my head.
A few operations I’ve had to have done,
To play the game for fun.

6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 In the box I was lethal and fast
I’ve been the unused sub,
Took the card around the pub
I’ve been off work with a plaster cast.

7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 I’ve saw tantrums and fights,
Played under floodlights,
A tackle or two was late.
I’ve got arthritic dodgy knees
Ignored ‘don’t play again please’
But football was my fate.

8 Leave a comment on verse 8 0 I’ve taken the early bath,
He wasn’t really hurt he was having a laugh.
I’ve played in a men’s team
Just turning fifteen,
The dressing room humour was fun.
Bowling green pitches butterfly stitches,
Played in the same team as my son.

9 Leave a comment on verse 9 0 Oh the game of football
Leads you a merry dance,
Dislocations and scars
Hit the net and crossbars,
And I’ve missed the easy chance.

10 Leave a comment on verse 10 0 Father time slowed down my tricks,
So I called it a day aged about forty-six.
And now over fifty I recall it all,
The ups and downs in the life of football.
To some it is only a game,
As I’m setting off to a match in the rain.
Then a photo in a frame catches my eye,
And many a season has passed on by.
Chalked on the well faded brown leather ball,
Is the year of 1963.
In the front row is Bennett you’re offside,
That’s what they were shouting at me.

11 Leave a comment on verse 11 0 Robbie Kennedy Bennett

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/bennett-youre-offside/