Football Supporters For Peace
How many wars has the world seen since homo sapiens first fought?
Far more than you will read of in any diplomatic Wisden, I’ll be bound,
For any definition of war must go beyond just state sponsored violence,
To include all collective acts of conflict that pre-date the nation state,
Conflicts that stretch right back to that 2001 Space Odyssey moment,
When humanity first saw the duality of potential in inert stone,
The rational utility of a labour saving tool,
And the violent inhumanity of a barbaric weapon;
Such a dichotomy is also paralleled by a duality in our thinking
And assumptions about the provenance of violence too:
The Nature versus Nurture debate,
The divide between those who believe that humankind is intrinsically evil,
Demanding, thereby, a Hobbesian Pax Americana Leviathan,
And those Rousseauists who assert that humanity is naturally cooperative,
Believing, thereby, that violence is socially and systemically produced,
As affirmed by the many variants of liberal, socialist and Marxist thinking,
Thinking that sees conflict as a response to a perceived inequality,
An inequality that denies potential by using hidden, discrete violence,
As in the daily death of 24,000 people through starvation.
But whatever our unproveable beliefs about the causes of conflict,
It’s obvious that peace cannot be produced through an immutable status quo,
An unmoving and unbending status quo,
It’s obvious that the world needs mechanisms for dynamic peaceful change,
For peaceful transitions and compromises that foster harmony and diversity,
Harmony and diversity across all the nation states of this spinning globe;
And this dynamic demands commitment from more than just politicians,
It requires powerful, responsible, active citizens too,
Citizens who educate governments into embracing peaceful change,
Non-violent peaceful change,
Non-violent peaceful change,
From citizens who think globally and act locally,
As we do today, at grounds throughout the world,
On Saturday September 21st,
The United Nations International Day of Peace,
A day of global ceasefire and non-violence –
But we honest citizens would like to see this happen every day,
We would like to see this happen every day,
In a free and peaceful equal world,
A free and peaceful equal world
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
6th May 2024
joe morris
4th May 2024
Crispin Thomas
2nd May 2024
joe morris
2nd May 2024
joe morris
28th April 2024
Richard Williams
26th April 2024
joe morris
25th April 2024
Denys E. W. Jones
25th April 2024
kevin halls
23rd April 2024
Alex Saynor
23rd April 2024
Crispin’s Corner
In Memoriam
Kick It Out & Christmas Truce
Latest Comments
29th April 2024 at 2:47 pm
Hi Denys,
Yes Richard Williams you’re a brilliant wordsmith, my friend. When I first saw your football poetry I thought it was the superb Guardian sports and music writer. I once had the honour of sitting next to Richard Williams while at the Independent on the sports desk. He writes about music and sport with immense knowledge and authority. I’ve read a couple of Richard’s books recently. Great writer rather like you Richard Williams the Pompey fan. Congratulations on promotion.
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28th April 2024 at 5:59 pm
Thanks Denys. Yes your replay poem was superb.
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26th April 2024 at 4:46 pm
Nice work, Joe. You were quick off the mark with that! Good one from Richard Williams too I see.
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25th April 2024 at 7:33 pm
Hi Denys,
Thanks mate. I’ll do it now.
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25th April 2024 at 1:56 pm
Thanks Joe,
you might like to write a poem yourself on the same subject…
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23rd April 2024 at 4:03 pm
Hi Denys
With you all the way on the abolition of FA Cup replays. What are they doing to the game?
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23rd April 2024 at 3:59 pm
Hi Crispin,
Yes sorry mate. Villa are still in Europe. Mistake rectified.
Cheers
Joe
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20th April 2024 at 12:04 pm
Hi Joe
Shouldn’t your title read your poem Farewell Europe England to everyone exccept Aston Villa ?
I know you mention them in your poem , but I do feel sorry for Villa re the national press .
Largely ignored. the hype was was all about Man City & Arsenal with a bit of a nod to the Hammers..but hardly a mention of Villa..
So well done to them
C
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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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