Football Poets

You can almost hear him say it,
in his own languid, lovable tone :

“He was one of a kind,
was Peely”

Then hear him modestly chiding
At the riff of tears
Dancing down our cheeks
Yet paradoxically
Siding
With […]

There’s silence
And then there’s silence

Those sixty seconds
Of absolute stillness –
Such complete absence of sound
Were but an inkling
Of the veneration
And esteem
Toward the much loved
Modest man –
The true […]

The first frost of autumn
delivers ahead of the postman –
a portent of a hard winter to come?

I remember when
it was Lee
and not Jack
who sent shivers down my spine –
he was, perhaps
more balletic
than the […]

They started the roar
In unison and delight;
Ear-splitting decibels
And eyes burning bright

All triggered by an event
Of which they could only dream;
That super wond’rous goal
Scored by their team

And that […]

they all came out at night
from their tunnels and their holes
both sides fielded mice
with the cagey voles in goals

the foxes patrolled both boxes
the badgers dominated the sett pieces
the wise old owl […]

Roared at it
Disparaged it
Cursed it
Cajoled it
Chided it
Cuffed it
Cuddled it
Kissed it
Talked it up
Cut it down to size
Torn it up
Binned it
Re-written it
Worked in the phrase ‘young man’
Then proclaimed it as […]

The Post Industrial Revolution, northern towns initial domination
Deconstructed
Herbert Chapman’s money-bags Arsenal
Deconstructed
The Third Reich
Deconstructed
Stan Cullis’s rampant Wolves
Deconstructed
Busby’s […]

On my way to the bank
Through Dublin’s dinky streets.

A whiff
Of nicotine
As I stroll past the pub
Brings a flashback
Of watching Chelsea through a haze
Back in pre-Premiership days.
Then a certain […]

I lay out
My shirt
My shorts
My socks

Folded neat, upon a seat
While I search
For branded boots
And clean jocks

In the background
The radio’s on
Setting the mood
Some band rocks

Contrary to the song
It’s not, […]

Would Aragonés be Spanish for Atkinson?
Is Luis their version of Big Ron?
Had this happened in Britain
You can guarantee that he’d be gone

The Spanish FA are supporting their manager –
Surely that’s giving the […]

The awkward motion
of a galloping giraffe
yet similarly, as deceptively fast

With all the dexterity
of an elephant sewing
it’s head down, push and run

Up the line at speed
full backs hard pressed to keep up
he’s […]

I bite hard, but I ain’t no alligator
I snap easily, but I’m no croc
I’m a slippery customer, but I’m no piranha
I’m prickly when challenged, but I’m no porcupine
Sometimes I tell porkies, but they’re hard to […]

Panned, but not by his adoring public
The golden nuggets, from his footballing life
Shine forth for all to see
But detritus, surrounds him still
Deprives him of dignity
Silts up his arteries
Imbues his […]

I want a shoe-in, to the bootroom
A leg-up, on the ladder of success
I want to track those in their trackies
Because I’m besotted, with the be-suited

From Moyes and Mersey
To the joys of Fergie
From Goodison Toffee
To Stretford swirl

From gaudy red lights
To Old Trafford nights
From angry Colleen
To supportive girl

From opening stunner
Dumbfounding Gunner
To […]

I cannot string, but two lines together
Without a footy rhyme, such as the ‘White Feather’
Or Chopper or Butch or Starsky and Hutch
For even nicknames, provide me a crutch
As my insignificant ramblings
Take in the […]

The Quarterback
Stops the clock
Simply
By killing the ball
And thus, time

It’s an art
And part
Of the Sport

Cross-Atlantic cousins
Desperate
To keep what they have
Are belligerently blocking
They […]

“Stands for
Old Big ‘Ead”, he was wont to say
Be that as it may
We would all like to pay
Respect

you already know you’re getting old
and you don’t want further reminding

for you recall, as if it were yesterday
Billie Jean King, up against Bobby Riggs

memories that snap to attention
just like scrunch of […]

His eyes are watching
His fingers still
His mind collates
For twitching quill

He may have seen
Drogba’s double
But for his counsel
I didn’t trouble