North America on my mind
A quick update on news – schools in Vancouver gave me lots of food for thought and next week I visit the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Los Angeles, so North America is on my mind rather a lot at the moment. There is therefore something more than satisfactory in hearing that the North American site www.FootyMundo.com is making us “fantastic site” of the month for March. This site aims to be the definitive index to all football websites in the world – so we can feel pretty pleased with ourselves, folks. Thanks and well done to you all – and keep writing!
The Banality of Evil and the Evil of Banality
I’d forgotten we were playing away tonight,
You get thrown by Friday night games, don’t you?
And what with work and food and drink and books,
I’d forgotten all about it, until I was shaken and stirred
By who knows what with about 15 minutes to go;
So I absent-mindedly turned on the telly to BBC 2,
With teletext 307 on top of whatever irrelevance happened to be on,
And there was Tranmere 0 Swindon 0,
(Promising, can we hold out for an away draw?)
Merging in with a ledger containing lots of zeros,
A Final Solution death list;
And then there was the smiling face of Adolf Eichmann, 1942,
And the 1961 archive footage of his trial,
Where he says he was only obeying orders and was therefore innocent,
And as the trains rolled across the screen to Auschwitz,
Beneath a score-line heading for its final whistle,
There could be no pleasure in a second clean sheet
And the customary invaluable away point,
And the customary phrase “the banality of evil” leaped to mind,
Or should it be the evil of banality?
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
joe morris
17th April 2024
Clik The Mouse
15th April 2024
Mike Bartram
15th April 2024
joe morris
14th April 2024
Mike Bartram
11th April 2024
joe morris
11th April 2024
Alex Saynor
9th April 2024
Denys E. W. Jones
8th April 2024
joe morris
8th April 2024
Mike Bartram
3rd April 2024
Crispin’s Corner
In Memoriam
Kick It Out & Christmas Truce
Latest Comments
19th March 2024 at 8:00 am
Hi Crispin. Chris Sutton on the radio has gone for a Chelsea v Coventry final. As we know anything can happen in the Cup, and I reckon we can go to the final.
We’re still in with a chance of the play offs too, so lots to go for.
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19th March 2024 at 7:41 am
Hey Kev
Let the masses drool over their odds on City v Unted Final, but who knows how pressure can hit.
Cov and Chels will be rightly labelled as having no chance..but hey …stranger things have happened..
so Chelsea v Coventry…that’s the Final for us!
Best
C
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29th January 2024 at 10:03 pm
Hi Crispin,
How are you doing mate? Yes, you’re probably right but hey football is all about emotion and passion and I just love writing about the game. I try to keep my poetry to a reasonable length but there’s so much to write about the game and its literature just lends itself naturally to poetry. Sometimes I just get completely carried and I do apologise for the length of my poetry but it’s a great thrill to be associated with Football Poets.
Cheers mate
Joe
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10th January 2024 at 7:52 pm
You’re right of course Joe but…..it’s actually more of a big welcome break for everyone who is not into Premier League ..I’m talking fans of EFL National League and below…..
Btw …is this actually your longest poem ever !?
Best
Crispin
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8th January 2024 at 4:45 pm
Thanks!
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8th January 2024 at 10:42 am
There’s something so evocative and nostalgic for football fans the world over, in ‘revisiting’ old lost grounds.
Occasionally some remnants remain, with perhaps part of a wall or part or a stand or thre shape of a terrace, but often they are only still there in faded images and in our heads..
Great stuff Graham
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4th January 2024 at 10:13 am
A great idea and well executed. Thanks Graham.
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19th November 2023 at 1:45 pm
Thanks Gacina, glad you liked it, and I have just posted a new one about our points deduction…
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7th November 2023 at 6:34 pm
Today B.B.C post on F.B was titled:Premier League reduced to 18 clubs? I really think it may be interesting to see if this would be Everton’s nightmare and this poem is well suited for this concern.If there would be more difficult battle to stay if there were 18 teams.Great poem and somehow true.
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6th November 2023 at 4:43 pm
Ashington FC have launched a £50,000 Crowdfunder appeal to meet the increased costs of winning promotion last season, to pay for urgent stadium improvements, travel costs and equipment
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