Football Poets

Final : Sunday 4th July

There were 10 keen battlers
and a keeper behind them all
10 keen battlers
and a keeper behind them all
and if one not-so-keen battler, should petulantly pout
then there’ll be one less […]

no matches on Friday 2nd or Saturday 3rd July

Xenophobic desires required a Germany v England final, which, quite evidently, didn’t transpire.
I was looking forward to using the following :

England Captain […]

Thursday 1st July

Not just a writers block

I needed inspiration
because my turn of phrase
was impeded

my stilted stanza’s stunted
my chutzpah chopped
my couplets cropped
my tempo tugged
my puns pinched
my […]

Wednesday 30th June

With Lisbon in their sights
and as the end of the tournament nears
‘Big Phil’ Scolari wins over the detractors
and puts an end to the smears

The first host nation to reach the final
in nigh […]

Sunday 27th June

I wanted to watch the match
But what about
the beds that had to be made
the hoovering that had to be done
the pile of ironing that had to be reduced rather than steadied

I wanted to watch the […]

Saturday 26th June

The full kaleidoscope of the drama of penalty kicks apart ….

It was a pastel shade
kindofamatch
all whites and yellows
it needed a bit more oomph
and a few more bellows

Too many measured […]

Friday 25th June

When the Champions don’t perform
When the underdogs won’t conform
Then we’re bound to see a shock

When the Champions don’t give their all
When the under-rated don’t play ball
Then the holders […]

Thursday 24th June, 2004

When, oh when
will we ever win again
when all it boils down to
is the scoring of a pen?

Wednesday 23rd June

No Huns, just puns

“There’s a cheque in the post”
to me
smacks of broken promises
whereas
“There’s a Czech on the post”
brings to mind
Tomas Hubschman
hugging the woodwork
like a lonesome […]

Tuesday 22nd June 2004

You have to feel for Antonio Cassano

For 90 minutes
the nimble Machiavelli
foraged forlornly

Then, a through ball
from the boot
of Inevitability

Set free
Conspiracy theory
to finish […]

Monday 21st June 2004

Mission successful

We reach for the stars
in dreams, in bars
we gaze upon fiery comets
and praise them in sonnets

Today, one man took that journey –
a meteoric rise
into the stratosphere; […]

Sunday 20th June 2004

it’s a greasy pole
that separates the teams;
the second hands
sent forth, by the clock of fate
try to clamber
to the zenith
spurred on
by the nervous boots
of the ungodly

Saturday 19th June

Koller left his calling card
Baros did the bashing;
Holland 2-0 up but found it hard
To avoid a second half thrashing

Petr Cech impressing
The watching Chelsea hordes
But Ed’s barely […]

Friday 18th June 2004

I’ve seen teams in trouble
lots of sweaty glands
but all that seems imperative
is the adjusting of alice bands

Where once it was formations
and talk of tactical ploys
now it’s just about […]

Over hill, over dale,
Through bush, through briar,
Over park, over pale,
Through flood, through fire,
Through Europe, through Asia,
Through the battered defence of Croatia,
Rooney wanders everywhere.

Sorry boss, my mind’s elsewhere

It’s nearly kick-off time but I’m
in no position to see the match. I’m
snowed under at work, with forms

and documents floating down like
snowflakes, from the Matterhorn
that […]

Portugal 2 Russia 1, in brief

of course
Ovchinnikov
handled

off course
official
offhanded

Aldonin
sacrificed
and substituted

all done in
Soviets reduced
and subs transmuted

Figo
figures
all the more

Rui […]

Bloomsday 2004

Celebrating Ulysses
the tourists throng to Dublin
to experience, in situ
an authentic atmosphere

What a novel idea
a book with no punctuation marks
imagine :
no full stops, no commas, no […]

Germany 1 Holland 1

Was it to be just one of those things?
A ball swept in, byTorsten Frings
We watch, as the ball swings
Untouched, even as van der Saar flings –
Holland flounder, the likely result, stings
The […]

@ Europe’s footballing elite convention

Full of nervous apprehension
For some a new dimension
Every team in contention
@ Europe’s footballing elite convention

Hosts and favourites get all the attention
Minnows […]