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!
My Account
Latest Poems
John Gilbert Ellis
28th November 2024
joe morris
26th November 2024
Denys E. W. Jones
26th November 2024
Gacina Bozidar
26th November 2024
Wynn Wheldon
26th November 2024
joe morris
17th November 2024
Crispin Thomas
17th November 2024
kevin halls
10th November 2024
joe morris
10th November 2024
Clik The Mouse
10th November 2024
Crispin’s Corner
In Memoriam
Kick It Out & Christmas Truce
Latest Comments
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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10th July 2024 at 6:07 pm
Hi Crispin,
I don’t know if you’ve see the picture in social media today…
a picture of a teenage Lionel Messi cradling a baby in Africa as part of a photoshoot…. the family had won a lottery to have their baby pictured with him….
the photographer has just revealed that the baby is actually in fact Lamine Yamal!!!!
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26th May 2024 at 2:30 pm
Hi Denys…
Re Man City:
OK it was 20 years ago but Criag Wilson did write this and a few others on them back in 04/05.
BTW I’m more Forest Green Rover since 2014 (and Chelsea) these days . I drum and am a standing season ticket holder .
Best
Crispin
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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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