Football Poets

Through rain drifting across floodlight beams
and smoke off the hotdog hut
from a corner by the Thames

you can see through black metal railings
through the smog and instant snap of fag ash
a distant heap […]

whose woods these are I do not know
but to a hilltop ground they go
and as we climb in Summer heat
this well trod path beneath our feet
will lead us high above the town
and carry us both up and down […]

Each day there is something new to learn.
When I hear of a brand new football term!
Is a ‘false number 9’ a number 9 or not?
That’s something I need to ask Arne Slot!

‘Seriously, I just don’t understan […]

Onto the Wembley pitch Eddie races.
Wearing his jacket, tie and braces!
Fleet of foot, he leaves behind the law.
And why not Eddie, 2-2 now the score!
This is the famous Eddie Cavanagh tale.
One cop […]

Roberto Mancini and Zlatko Dalic
and so what ? Who would have thought about this :
Roberto Mancini once visited
Medjugorje in 2011
He made pilgrimage in that
picturesque region of Herzegovina
He prayed in […]

So it’s not coming home
as England lose to Spain,
it just wasn’t meant to be
for Gareth Southgate and Harry Kane.
So it’s not coming home
a case of so near but so far away,
but the Spanish were the better […]

even though we swear we won’t
something sucks us in
armchair managers emerge
when the games begin
once again we do it all
ev’ry time it seems
caught up in the flow and vibe
caught up in the […]

Who cares if it wasn’t a pen, against the Dutch,
When luck rolls its dice, we’ve not had much,
Maradona’s handball in ’86,
A dirty trick that history couldn’t fix,
In France 98, all our hopes were marred, […]

So near and yet so far….
and yet here we are
beaten finalists
beaten by a better team
who tramped all over
our burgeoning dream

Worthy winners Spain
brought pain
to our shores…
we rowed our oars
to […]

the flags have all appeared again
on buildings and on cars
except the Farmer’s Market
or posh and trendy bars
my wall chart hangs resplendent
a multi-caloured sheet
a hand-filled record of it all
of […]

We stand at the water’s edge….
shall we succumb
to Salacia’s salty stare
and drown in our sorrow?
Or will tomorrow’s
final
be the time to draw upon
our modern armada – a flotilla of faithful fans
egging […]

England in final
it’s coming home isn’t it
Southgate jubilant ?
Against Netherlands
they did play a lot better
deserved victory.
They have rode their luck
and huffed and puffed in matches
but never gave […]

I recall two similar events involving
16 years old Wayne Rooney in an Everton shirt

16 years old Lamine Yamal in the Spanish shirt

You know
The same
Everton v Arsenal 16 years old Rooney
Spain v […]

nights like this are special
times like these are rare
savour ev’ry moment
when you know you’re there
you can call it fortune
who cares what they say
when that moment happens
failure falls awa […]

Ollie, Ollie, Ollie
Oi, Oi, Oi!
Ollie
Oi!
Ollie
Oi!
Ollie, Ollie, Ollie…
Ploy, ploy, ploy!

Ollie, Ollie, Ollie
Oi, Oi, Oi!
Ollie
Oi!
Ollie
Oi!
Ollie, Ollie, Ollie…
JOY! JOY! JOY!

I could not sleep
I could not work
all this pent-up nervousness
just drove me berserk!

And so I tried listening to Bob Dylan….
“the nerves, they are a-changing”
yes indeed they are…. escalating […]

Messi’s baptised boy*
sees La Roja through in style
with a mighty strike

The Belfast Boy, a player complete.
Had the football world at both feet.
Art like gift, born to dazzle, to win.
Never again to see the likes of him.

In United Red, in native Irish Green.
The greatest […]

watching England’s tricky
wherever you stand
given we’re consistently
ever-moaning fans

drowned in mediocrity
drained until we cry
put through ev’ry wringer
then hung out to dry

worn out with emo […]