Football Poets

I heard them curse the lack of silverware,
those diehard fans from lonely Ross-on- Wye,
still yearning hopelessly for football’s heir.

I gazed upon the concrete bridge to Skye,
that distant island ‘ […]

For six-year-olds, the training’s done –
they’ve run and passed and passed and run
and dribbled slow around red cones
with just the minimum of moans
and learnt the art of ball control
and shooting at a cone- […]

Orange leather footballs in the snow,
when struck with force from some attacker’s toe,
would sting but you could never let it show.

Arctic troughs could change the status quo
and games that went ahead w […]

The ‘i’s are dotted, ‘t’s are crossed
and Tolka Park appears lost.
The football ground will pay the cost.
Financial targets? Sure, we never met them.

Shels will go and share with Bohs,
their bittere […]

I miss the old clock at the Ballybough end
that used to run slow when we had to defend.
We’d play to it, pray to it,
some folk would swear at it.
And when we conceded, we’d voice our despair at it.

But oh […]

There doesn’t seem to be a clear pace-setter,
careering through the fixtures with incision.
There’s not one club that seems a whole lot better
than all the other teams in the division.
Everybody’s waiting to se […]

Do you recall the rusty old tin shed
that was a feature of Athlone’s old ground?
Whenever someone scored, the fists would pound
the walls, with fearsome noise to rouse the dead.

The corrugated roof which p […]

“It’s time,” she says. I gulp a little weakly.
The butterflies flap madly in their fear.
She offers me my scarf. I take it meekly.
My stomach harbours thoughts of diarrhoea.

“Tell the kids I love them very de […]

Thirst-quenching, bum-clenching,
nail-biting, wrong-righting,
head-turning, bowel-churning,
ear-popping, heart-stopping,
nerve-jangling, hope-mangling,
fag-smoking, nervous-joking,
beer-swilling, […]

Tonight we welcome Galway up to Tolka.
I’ll burst into applause when you appear.
If I wasn’t such a Red,
I might well follow you instead.
My heart will always hold you very dear
but I hope we won’t be playi […]

Oh Lord, as we complete this two-horse race,
the football season barely six months old,
deliver us, we pray, from this dark place.

We kneel before your majesty and grace,
looking for a way back in the fold
as we, […]

Bragging in the playground,
bragging in the pub.
Bragging in the workplace
who’s the better club.

Teams with wealthy chairmen
will come out on top.
Little teams are struggling.
Where’s it going to sto […]

To be content with life is your perdition –
there must be something wrong within your make-up.
Staying with one club shows no ambition.

To strive for glory has to be your mission –
the call goes out. Behold the […]