Football Poets

call him old fashioned but he had his own style
churned out facts like an old speed dial
started out way back in sixty nine*
Motty was a one off in his own time
call him quirky and say what you like
Motty […]

If you’ve ever been there
If you’ve had the call
If you’ve had that feeling
Writing’s on the wall
Like some guilty party
In your heart you know
There is no alternative
When it’s time to go

Whe […]

The blue Azzurri fire that burned
when I first saw you on my screen
one Nineties Sunday Channel 4
Sampdoria your long time home

the passion in your play that shone
as bright as bright for all to […]

I was 10 years old when I first saw you
that steamy Summer of ’58 the World Cup …Sweden
when before you – for me
there had only been one hero…Jimmy Greaves.

we’d only had our tele a year
but there y […]

one club man our George

gentlemanly on and off

his old Cottage pitch ~

whose ground this is I surely know
unrecognizable in snow
and I my glee can barely hide
to find these gates all open wide
my little dog must think it strange
to stop with neither fan nor game
he gives his […]

it’s a dream that would blossom two decades ago
when the Spirit of Football gave birth
to a symbol that’s more than just something you kick
but unites everyone on this Earth
and it’s rolled and been kicked by […]

let’s boycott Qatar
it’s wrong for heaven’s sake
however little diff’rence
our non-viewing will make
let’s go watch a small club
while games go on at home
while they just greenwash endlessly
to justify […]

migrant workers meagre wages
lacking in support
dying in the searing heat
in the name of sport
all are welcome so they claim
we know that’s not true
there’s no understanding
of LGBTQ
women made to live […]

It rarely garners plaudits
it often ushers pain
those masters of the darkest art
who waste our time again
the dragging to the corner flag
that Shangri-La of spaces
the long slow walk to be replaced […]

Even if your owner’s an eco millionaire
When the bubble bursts a bit you learn to fight despair
Remembering that months ago we had ourselves a time
Cheering dancing in the stands the champagne flowed […]

oh dear another four years on
and just like Russia and South Africa
the question arises again
Qatar – will we watch or not
and equally will we write poems about it ?
the football that is

yeah it’s […]

the People’s Games is distant now
they’ve redesigned our game
it’s like there’s just the Premier League
and nothing else remains
I can’t believe it’s happ’ning
they’re taking it away
there must be […]