where now..the Wembley dream is over
where now the dream is long over and gone
and your tunnel stands empty while echoes ring on?
when you ask me a place where-in legends were made
i willl show you where none but the greatest have played
from the back streets of Bolton to old London town
the joys and the sorrows the ups and the downs –
you may scour this world over but find none like this
for the ground that we dreamed on no longer exists
the end of an era that meant much to me
and so much to so many now so long Wembley
from the very first final that opening day
they would flock in their thousands along Wembley Way
in cloth caps and bowlers they came in their scores
contained by a ‘copper’ and Billie the horse
from crowds on a touchline in Spring twenty-three
to Nelson Mandela the day he walked free
this temple and stage had its own chemistry
and the turf it was sacred at old Wembley
from the year of my birth back in March forty-eight
from those mighty Olympics and games that have played
to Matthews and Puskas in late fifty-three
and the moment those floodlights first blazed on the scene
how they shone done in Europe those times Charlton scored
and lit up the sky on that ancient scoreboard
on down through the World Cup and long-argued goals
to Cup-Final dramas this stadium had soul
each blade of her green grass held some memory
when you ponder on glory you think on Wembley
like nights when the twin-towers first heard rock n’roll
and Haley and Jerry Lee put on that show
those eco-laced eighties Mandela Live-Aid
when Springsteen Madonna and Jackson all played
from penalty misses to anthems and hits
we chanted with pride in Euro Ninety-Six
the day when they carried Paul Gascoigne off crying
to the fastest of goals that will stand for all time
to all of the moments that won’t come no more
the scarves and the banners that old Wembley roar
but of all of the memories that live on and on
the saddest of all is that Wembley is gone…
Oct 1 2001 Pefkos.Rhodes,Greece.
About This Site
Welcome to Football Poets -- a club for all football poets, lovers of football and lovers of (alternative) poetry. Discover poets in every league from respected internationals at the top of their game to young hopefuls in the school playground.
Publish your football poems here and then discuss them with your team mates and fans. We're archived by The British Library, so your masterpieces are in the safe hands of a world-class keeper. What a result!
My Account
Latest Poems
Mike Bartram
8th July 2025
joe morris
6th July 2025
Crispin Thomas
6th July 2025
Mike Bartram
4th July 2025
Denys E. W. Jones
29th June 2025
joe morris
29th June 2025
Crispin Thomas
26th June 2025
joe morris
23rd June 2025
Crispin Thomas
16th June 2025
Gacina Bozidar
15th June 2025
Crispin’s Corner
In Memoriam
Kick It Out & Christmas Truce
Latest Comments
7th June 2025 at 5:57 pm
Very well put! My recent favourite came when visiting Chesterfield. They have the ‘LMD Vacuum Excavation Stand’.
May be if you’re in the vacuum excavation business, it’s a beautiful sounding name.
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24th May 2025 at 7:19 am
Hi Steve
I’ve come across you before on the live poetry circuit…something I’ve also been involved in since the late 90s at slams, gigs and festivals. Did you ever get to Glasto?
I was also at Swindon when José subbed and berated Kevin in a League Cup game for Chelsea….
Salah as you point out went the same way…
Be interesting to see Kev’s next move?
Best
Crispin
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24th April 2025 at 1:05 pm
Hey Denys..love this
“You may be a miner working down a pit.
You may be a rock star playing sold out gigs.
You may be a fireman putting out a blaze.
You may be an inmate chalking off the days. ”
Not just Dylan but maybe an unintentional nod to and shades of Ian Dury’s enigmatic ‘What A Waste’ rhythmic scanning..eg:
I could be the driver in an articulated lorry
I could be a poet I wouldn’t need to worry
I could be a teacher in a classroom full of scholars
I could be the sergeant in a squadron full of wallahs
What a waste
What a waste
Was lucky enough to meet and interview him twice.
Best wishes from Forest Green to Genoa C
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8th March 2025 at 2:34 pm
Thanks Crispin
I’ve been to FGR a couple of times in the past – great food! Barnet look like they have the NL sewn up for this season, but I wish you well for promotion next season.
Regards, Beth
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11th January 2025 at 8:13 am
TO ADD THIS TO THIS POEM’S COMMENT:WELCOME BACK DAVID MOYES!!!
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27th November 2024 at 5:55 am
‘You’re Supposed To Be At Home’ is an excellent and moving poem Denys.
You start off thinking it’s just about another oft-sung chant, one we personally heard a lot last season throughout our second relegation in a row here at Forest Green(FGR) ! I always love poems where you think they are saying one thing and then they suddenly pull you deeper to somewhere or something else else.
I’m currently helping in a local school for FGR in a voluntary capacity using football to help young students with reading. At an upcoming session we will tackle racism, just like we did in workshops at football schools and grounds when we first started this site 24 years ago. I’m gonna try and weave your poem into a session.
We’ve added it to the Anti- Racism/Kick It Out section under Crispin’s Corner.
Best C
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26th November 2024 at 1:59 pm
Great poem and great to see you back Wyn.
Don’t leave it so long next time my friend!
More please.
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13th September 2024 at 6:14 pm
Welcome to Football Poets Beth
Great evocative poem Beth….
More please !
Haiku always welcome.
Hope we (FGR) get to play you again soon
Best
Crispin
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26th July 2024 at 6:25 pm
Great poem Mike Bartram. Eddie was a legend, affectionately known in Liverpool as, “the first hooligan.” Even the hoolies were well dressed in those days. The amazing thing was he was only 26 when that picture was taken. He’d played for Everton youth team and was well known to the players. He never got arrested. They threw him out and he climbed back in, just in time for Derek Temples winner.
I used the picture of him being tackled to the ground on the front cover of my book, “Once Upon a rhyme in Football.” It’s worth looking on youtube and finding the re-enactment of the Wembley scene. Frank Skinner and Baddiel went around to Eddies home in the 1990’s and acted it out on the green outside. It’s hilarious, especially all the effort they put in to get Eddie sober enough to shoot the scene.
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