Football Poets

when I am watching the World Cup
take me back to Cape Town – before TV
when all we had was a crackly radio
and matches on the BBC World Service
faded in and out on Saturdays by the ocean

when i am safe here in my […]

She sits beside me as i write
I gaze up at her day and night
and ev’ry time i get a call
I always check upon my wall
my life is planned out selfishly
from Joburg down to Glastonbury
I know exactly where I’ll be […]

there’s a great saying:

‘man reaches for the stars
and ignores the flowers at his feet….’

was it Byron….or was it the F.A?
but it’s as apt today as it was back when
and should be the legacy-motto
for the […]

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oh no – weeks to go

World Cup love is in the air

fasten your keyboards

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the nation has spoken
the votes are all cast
we hang by a thread
will it tumble or last?

there are leaders who tease
with charisma and style
there are those who survive
without passion or guile

there are those […]

spare a thought for lesser realms
where fans are used to straining
they cling like ivy to stone walls
it never needs explaining
consistent in their hanging on
like clifftop vines they lie
those Conference Houdinis […]

twenty one long years

still we shudder in our hearts

why oh why oh why?

the rain may slant across the hills
the clouds roll black and grey
the forest mist hangs damp and cold
and Spring feels far away
while supermaket shelves are crammed
with eggs and hot-cross buns
and in the nearby […]

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we should never scorn those left in pain

but sometimes your hand’s up in vain

Maradona’s been bitten

by a dog – not a kitten ….

is it karma returning again?

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We stood and remembered the moments
Like funeral goers in thought
In fact we stood up for most of the game
As we wasted the seat we had bought

And likewise we wasted another big night
As we fell without passion […]

what do we want from football today
and where do our true feelings lie
are we all hoping for long gone days
or dreaming of pie in the sky?
have all of our great expectations
been dashed just like waves on the […]

am I alone here in my thoughts
how did it come to this?
we go in hope for football
not customs we might miss
when handshakes turn to handbags
and best friends turn away
the media circus rumbles on
and dominates […]

come gather round die-hards
wherever you can
they’re stripping our assets
all over the land
and the pitfalls and closures
are beyond our command
and the old game is rapidly fading
and it’s chuck it all in if […]

I’ve played at every stage you can
I made it to the top
and when you’re there you never dream
It’s ever going to stop
and just like when you’ve drunk your fill
the feeling is euphoric
Hello my name is Jimmy G […]

you at seventy

me at ten when you were king

firing goals for fun

•

you in those long shorts
on scrapbook pages and walls
always my hero

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to ape your swivel
on concrete fields by street light
how I tried and tried

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blurred in blue and white
you dancing past def […]

media screamin’ out “the Cup is dead!”
“no more minnows” – or so we are led
try telling that to the Scunthorpes instead
the Cup isn’t dead – long live the Cup

try telling that to Reading and Leeds
fashioning […]

What can you do when you can’t be there
stare at the radio tear out your hair?
media don’t give a mention or care
waiting for the game

back on that Sunday then came the blow
booked on a train but beaten by snow […]

who here did not shudder deep
like some nightmare in our sleep
pictures we won’t want to keep
in this game of life

images on our TV
acts of inhumanity
countries in recovery
football or your life?

shock and […]

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ev’ry team and fan

just three things we need today

passion skill and grit

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