FA Cup minnows
They all start off dreaming
Then comes the collective screaming :
Teams, from every corner of the land
Try their very best, whether praised or panned;
And for all these clubs, their FA Cup dreams
Start from unlikely places, wherever the draw deems
And there were certainly some very unusual names
That we could pick out, from this weeks games ;
The oddest one to catch the eye, had to be Odd Down
And then, as well as Rovers, Uniteds and many a Town
We can add, though we know not the nomenclature, more’s the pity
Suffice to say, at suffix city :
Collieries
Celtic
Bridge
Cables
Old Boys
Synthonia
Vics / Victoria
Ramblers
Hamlet
Invicta
Main
Winning
Heath
Sports
Casuals
Blue Cross
Brewery
Red Star
Dynamo
Dominoes
Terriers
Gate
Swifts
Olympic
Amateurs
I didn’t see any result, that mentioned Devizes
But there were some household names, in unfamiliar guises :
Ipswich Wanderers
Swindon Supermarine
Blackpool Mechanics
Bristol MF
Lincoln United
Lincoln Moorlands
Oldham Town
Newcastle Blue Star
Newcastle Town
Norwich United
Oxford City
Bury Town
So many of these monikers, such a delight to find
And with these strange names, some strange thoughts spring to mind :
Could Wembley, ever make it to the Millenium Stadium?
Could a player from Quorn, ever be involved in a meaty tackle?
Are Chasetown, good at chasing a game?
Are Esh, always Winning? I guess the fans are always singing?
When games are tight, do Bacup Boro, have a backup plan?
Will Concord’s season, take off at the speed of sound?
For Hamlet, will it be a case of … alas poor Dulwich, we knew them well? **
When Trafford grow old, do they morph into Utd?
Can Moneyfields, not buy their way to successki?
Are Dunston Federation Brewery, good at organising post-match piss-ups?
Can Rugby Utd, cope with the round ball?
If Seaham and Shepshed joined forces, we’d have Red Star Dynamo!
When Stone stumble, do they collapse like a pack of dominoes?
Do they have landed gentry, operating the turnstiles, at Squires Gate?
Does Thatcham Town, have anybody called Robinson playing for them? *
Who are the more casual in defence, Walton or Corinthians?
Do the Met Police, ever give an arresting performance?
So much fun, to be had with the names
Let’s sincerely hope, theres even more joy
For all those diehards, attending the games
Taken from the FA Cup Qualifying Results, listed in the Sunday papers, 31st August 2003.
Club suffixes, a favourite old topic of mine!
The following is a list of team names in full, of those clubs mentioned above
Atherton Collieries
Farsley Celtic
Bamber Bridge
Prescot Cables
Beaconsfield SYCOB
Billingham Synthonia
Borrowash Vics
Biddulph Victoria
Burnham Ramblers
Holker Old Boys
Folkestone Invicta
Rossington Main
Maltby Main
Esh Winning
Flackwell Heath
Concord Rangers
Dulwich Hamlet
Cowes Sports
Mickleover Sports
Woodley Sports
Corinthian Casuals
Walton Casuals
Trafford
Rugby United
Moneyfields
Leek CSOB
Wootton Blue Cross
Dunston Federation Brewery
Pontefract Collieries
Seaham Red Star
Shepshed Dynamo
Stone Dominoes
Bedlington Terriers
Squires Gate
Stourbridge Swifts
Rushall Olympic
Thatcham Town *
* (for all those of a certain Scorcher & Score generation! or was it Tiger, or was it both – the passing years deceive me!)
* (also, was it Thatcham or Thatchem, Utd or Town?)
Yorksire Amateurs
Some other ‘unusual’ names that caught my eye :
Deeping Rangers
Glapwell
Liversedge
Long Buckby
Marske United
Alsager
Raunds Town
Jarrow Roofing Boldon CA
Stocksbridge PS
Boldmere St Michaels
Thornaby
Yaxley
To the inhabitants of these towns / villages, please excuse my ignorance
** Yes, I know it’s a misquote! But I quite doubt that Dulwich Hamlet would have someone called Horatio playing for them!
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!
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Latest Poems
Gacina Bozidar
3rd February 2023
Gacina Bozidar
3rd February 2023
joe morris
3rd February 2023
Stuart Butler
2nd February 2023
Denys E. W. Jones
30th January 2023
joe morris
29th January 2023
Crispin Thomas
25th January 2023
joe morris
23rd January 2023
Denys E. W. Jones
23rd January 2023
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14th January 2023
Crispin’s Corner
In Memoriam
Kick It Out & Christmas Truce
Latest Comments
5th December 2022 at 8:11 pm
Stuart, you are not alone, in your dichotomy of doubt
but without dissention
you stand alone
in hogging our attention!
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16th November 2022 at 11:04 am
[Football on soiled turf]
This is a wonderful phrase which I shall be using from now on!
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15th November 2022 at 3:54 pm
Well said Crispin. One of the reasons for The Ball 2022/23 is exactly this – that FIFA need to know. The Ball is essentially a petition to FIFA to honour their commitments to the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework. They signed up; they should act. The Qatar tournament takes the World Cup in the opposite direction to that commitment. And 2026 looks like it’ll be even worse.
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8th November 2022 at 2:06 pm
Hi Guys
Re ‘Lets Boycott Qatar ‘ poem
You probably hate me banging on..and problably know (like me) that my/your not watching the World Cup in Qatar will make no difference.
Of course it won’t. That’s not the point.
OK someone might possibly eventually publish a minimal drop in terrestrial TV viewer numbers, but I fear that is unlikely.
But please above all, do go on writing poems about the World Cup, as/you we have always done. I hate to think a poem or two of mine might l make you feel bad about comenting on a game or country …or that I’ve put you all off about wanting to contribute.
So we’d love to hear from you and read your thoughts and observations, as ever on what’s going on.
Some of us have been here since Football Poets website birth/inception for the Euros 2000 ….
All my best wishes
Crispin
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18th October 2022 at 10:06 am
Shoot! (Something we’ve also been screaming in vain at our team all season !)
Great memories Joe . Before Shoot, it was Roy of the Rovers comic too, dropping through my letterbox.
Anxiously waiting each week to see if they survived in the mexcian jungle after an ambush..or a pre-season earthquake!
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3rd October 2022 at 8:32 pm
Thanks for the kind words Sharon. Yes, it was a shame with Billy Shako, but with five subs now being allowed, he might yet make it off the bench. Even if it’s just a cameo to close out a poem.
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2nd October 2022 at 1:49 pm
John, your new book is an absolute delight and more please. It’s a shame ‘Swapping Shirts With Shakespeare’ never made it off the bench, but quality football poets light up the writing fields like Roman candles. Go well.
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4th September 2022 at 12:42 pm
Great memories Greg. Took me right back.
Today I stand on a small terrace in the hills where I live watching Forest Green Rovers in L1, and keep up with Chelsea on highlights. It’s a far cry and a world away from those times when I lived as a child within walking distance of ‘The Bridge’ – just off the Ifield Road, which led to Fulham Road. The Blues were rubbish for so long, but we loved them and somehow we stayed in the old First Division for so many seasons. And of course we got to see Greavesie at his impudent best, scoring goals for fun. Mad unpredictable games where we’d score 4 and let in five.
The looming floodlights in the dark and mist on magic night games. The big games when the ground heaved.
I don’t think we ever realized how magical and incredible it was back then. The atmosphere and arriving there so early – like you said.. just to make sure you got in. Back when Bovril, tea and cake and roasted peanuts for sixpence a back were just about all on offer.
Good times.
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4th September 2022 at 12:37 pm
see above
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18th August 2022 at 10:20 am
To put it politely!
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