We Welcome in August ….
This August, we welcomed the following new contributors :
Robert Rea
John Haines
Emdad Rahman
Fernando García – all the way from Mexico
Chinyere Nwakanma
Chris Boothby
Lisa Wenz
Aidan Sterling
+ Our friends from the ELG Interface, aka West Ham
Tayo
Nabilah
Lucy Crossley
Some examples :
Starting with my favourite this month – because I’m biased – we share the same idol :
God in royal blue
Wolf-hungry, towering, glowering
Viking-like, plundering and pillaging
To me – a wide-eyed four-year-old fan
You were a god
Standing on the steps of the Shed
Among the beer and sweat of the terraces
All I could hear – throbbing in my ears – was your name
“OSGOOD! OSGOOD!”
The only hero I had before was my father
But you were different – deadly, dangerous
That wicked grin, arms punching the air
To mark another goal
For five years, you were my north and south
My idol, my ambition, my deity
They hailed you the king of Stamford Bridge
And I worshipped you
And then — one awful day — my god was toppled
Not overthrown or beaten, but sold like a prize cow
Stomach-sick, I had to see you play in red and white
The stripes of shame
You came back to Chelsea a few years later
In our hour of need, the returning king
But you were slow and slothful, and couldn’t save us
Ossie, what happened?
No longer a god, you were just another footballer
What made you mortal – the boos? Or the booze?
Or was it me – had I grown too old for idols?
Everything had changed
Since then, like any fan, I’ve had my favourites
But none like Osgood, none filled my world
They all were flawed, all failed as a replacement
No-one came close
I don’t believe in heroes now – and yet somewhere
Inside me is still the wide-eyed four-year-old
Who gapes in awe at the number 9 and the sideburns
At the god in royal blue
© Robert Rea
Peter Osgood, Chelsea legend, played 279 times for the Blues between 1964 and 1974, before being sold to Southampton after a row with the manager Dave Sexton. He died in March 2006, but remains immortal to all of us who saw him play at his peak in the Chelsea sides of the 1960s and early 70s.
Brilliant Orange
Schizophrenic they may be
Two world cup final losses,
Leaving the nation all at sea
‘Total Voetbal’, switching positions with ease
flowing passes, stubborn possession, the killer pass, all a breeze
Wilkes, Cruyff, Gullit to name but three
Stars for the future include Van Persie
The future is orange, the future is bright
The spirit of Rembrandt and Van Gogh is truly alight
© Emdad Rahman – 17.08.06
In a nutshell…
“The neurotic genius of Dutch football”
David winner
the hammers prayer.
our bobby who art in heaven.
football be thy game.
at the boleyn it will be won
as at anfield and goodison
lead us not into southampton,.
give us our dailly and repka.
and forgive us our losses
as we forgive spurs who score against us
it will be won on earth with
our team of eleven
for geoff, billy, and trevor, amen.
© john haines 22 aug 2006
I Froze
I stepped up
Shocked
Scared like mad
My nerves
Were
Worried
Furious
Heart pumping
BOOM..BOOM..BOOM
Hands trembling
Feet shaking
Score
Or
miss
I cant
Believe it
It was a…
GOAL!!!!!!!
Screaming
With
Joy
Happiness
In the air
The crowd goes…..
WILD!!!!!
© Tayo
& I have to include the latest from one of my favourite contributors on the site :
Say it ain’t so Iain. Say it ain’t so.
“I need to be near my family,
I’ve got to leave the South.
These were the words that flowed,
from Iain Dowie’s mouth.
Now South London it is wonderful,
to say different I’d be a liar,
but I really need to be up North,
with my wife in Lanca-shire.”
T’was to Palace Chairman Jordan,
he made his desperate appeal,
begging him to release him,
from his original contract deal.
Iain had been a coaching wonder,
when he led Palace to promotion,
but then the following season,
he was in charge of their demotion.
Between himself and Simon Jordan,
there was no love, they both agreed,
and to get Iain Dowie to stay aboard,
Jordan wasn’t going to plead.
” I’ll release you from your obligations,
I won’t look for compensation,
as long as you are true to your word,
and make the North your destination.”
But instead of heading the M1’s way,
to live in the Northern burbs,
Dowie was checking a vacancy,
left by Charlton’s Alan Curbs.
So a week after shaking Jordan’s hand,
and acting all pally pally,
Dowie was sneaking up the road,
to sign a contract at the Valley.
Mr Dowie, we always supported you,
we cheered when you raised your fist*
but the way you pulled a fast one,
means at Selhurst you won’t be missed.
© John J O’Connor August 2006
The title comes from an American saying, ‘Say it ain’t so Joe, say it ain’t so.’It originated in Chigago in 1917 when the greatest baseball player of that time Shoeless Joe Jackson got charged with match fixing.Apparently he was approached the next day by a tearful young boy who uttered those words.
Crystal Palace manager Iain Dowie convinced everyone he had to head North for family reasons then once released headed down the road to bitter rivals Charlton. At his press conference he was served a writ from a bitter Palace Chairman Simon Jordan.
* The Dowie fist reached almost legendry status at Selhurst. Was raised to the crowd after winning performances.
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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Crispin’s Corner
In Memoriam
Kick It Out & Christmas Truce
Latest Comments
24th September 2023 at 5:14 pm
Very accurate indeed!
Palace home for me is always a tough journey as well. From the wilds of west London to Selhurst is a random journey into the unknown.
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20th September 2023 at 1:37 pm
Lovely stuff for one of the best.
We love him to death down at the Palace.
I’ll post my Roy poem a bit later. You’ve inspired me to finish it.
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19th September 2023 at 5:06 pm
I’d like to think some of my scarves might get passed down the generations, but can’t see some of the “quality merchandise” I have making much past my son’s generation. They’ll fall apart before he even has kids, I reckon!
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7th September 2023 at 2:43 pm
Very true Crispin. Thanks!
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3rd September 2023 at 6:55 pm
Play Up Pompey indeed Richard .
My first ever proper game when i was 10 was Chelsea 7-4 Pompey on Xmas morning 1959, Greavesie got 4.
First visited Fratton Park with Chelsea (2-2) and stood among loads of sailors back in the old Second Dvision early 60s . That’s when I first heard the Pompey Chimes..
Last visited in the mid 2000s to run a football poetry workshop on racism with local young students in the Study Centre you had then at the time.
Had a great chat with some of your fans when you came here to Forest Green last season…
best wishes
Crispin
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1st September 2023 at 7:17 pm
Cliché heaven or hell..we get it all
Welcome to Football Poets John
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28th August 2023 at 10:54 am
Thanks Crispin – noted re the boxer! Never know, perhaps we’ll get Forest Green in the cup… or Chelsea!
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27th August 2023 at 4:47 pm
Hey Rowan
Tough line up of opening fixtures but werlcome to the National League and to Football Poets.
I’ve often passed your ground but never actually been.
Had to remove the boxert poem , sorry ….only poems about football, though i did read your tenuous link!
best wishes
Crispin -Editor
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6th August 2023 at 3:46 pm
Don’t worry Apollo, I have examined the evidence on YouTube – he looks great, the real deal!
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7th July 2023 at 5:26 pm
Let’s Hope for your sake Denys, that he doesn’t turn out to be from La-la-Land!
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