Atmosphere Blog+Poems Of The Week+ Workshops
31.1.07 CONTENTS
1 Poems of The Week
2 Blog “On Atmosphere”
3 Interesting Workshop Links & Useful Organisations
4 2007 Workshops with Crispin / Football Poets
5 January Match Poems
1. POEMS OF THE WEEK
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Both great , both different and both deserving..
29 Jan Ghandi of the Football Stands
Ralph Hancock
29 Jan Yer First Match Is.kevin raymond
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ABOUT FOOTBALL POETRY WORKSHOPS
Now taking bookings for 2007. We run and book Football Poetry Workshops all year all over the UK. For info on workshops contact
Crispin Thomas ctm@crispinthomas.orangehome.co.uk
or phone 01453 757376 & 07837 798463
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2. BLOG ON ATMOSPHERE
Hi. Another year and for me the football poetry workshops are back . One thing we talk and write about in workshops is atmosphere, or lack of it! We will be listing all poems on atmosphere in and around grounds in Butler’s Bench..so send ;em in..
How many times do you hear “Strange ground this, just, like being on the moon, no atmosphere!” So I’ve been thinking about atmosphere a lot lately. Whenever I can get to a game , it hits me, or often as not it doesn’t hit me! So what do you guys think and feel about atmosphere at games these days? Can fans improve the situation by booking tickets close together in one stand to sing, is it possible ? Why should sitting down affect the vibe so much? I was thinking it about it because I’ve just been working school-children at Chelsea FC again from 17th-22nd , as part of the Education Through Football programme with the great Roy Bentley. As ever it has been great to work together . He is a an icon from a different time, a player from an age where many long lost sights and sounds were common place . Often Roy , who is now an amazing 83 years old, will speak about the atmosphere back then in the fifties , the way the sound would hit you from the mighty open bank of standing terraced fans. Nowadays we often find the sound seems to swirl around above our heads , as we sit beneath endless modern rooved and all-enclosing shopping-centre stadiums . I always have to keep a close eye on time with Roy though , as one question inevitably turns into a major story, and we are there to write poems about him. Here’s a recent poem inspired by a song from Villa fans at a game at Chelsea this season .
Can’t Buy An Atmosphere Crispin Thomas
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MICHAEL FOREMAN & THE PENSIONERS
Also present at the workshops are the wonderful author and illustrator Micheal Foreman (War Game, Billy The Kid etc;) a Blues regular who I love chatting with, and of course the Chelsea penisoners who also work with the kids, recounting stories of football at the Bridge in the thirties, the forties and during and after the War. Because we work in three seperate rooms we don’t actually get to experience each other’s sessions, but we do chat a lot in the breaks , swapping feedback and stories. .
QUALITY, GRAMMAR & LANGUAGE REMINDER
Lastly please check spelling and puctuation before submitting and keep it clean. The site is archived by The British Library remember and viewed by millions from all races ,places and cases, lower and upper! Poems about THIS MONTH’S GAMES (January ) appear at the end of this page. News of up-coming workshops + links follow. .Go well . Crispin
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3. SOME WORKSHOP LINKS & USEFUL ORGANISATIONS
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WORLD CUP WORKSHOP BISHOPS CASTLE PHOTOS 10.6.06
Pics from the day with students and Crispin.
EVERTON FC ‘ Making A Difference’ Workshop Review Crispin Thomas
Session at Everton FC Extra Time Study Support Centre
FOOTBALL STUFF Crispin Thomas
BBC Video Nation (Real Player) Crispin at Forest Green Rovers with rap, Casio and a ball.. as you do.
Football Unites Racism Divides
Women’s Football-A Brief History
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4. 2007 WORKSHOPS GIGS & DATES with Crispin
2007
Jan 07
17-19 CHELSEA FC Education Through Football with Roy Bentley
22 CHELSEA FC Education Through Football with Roy Bentley
Feb 07
13/14 MORPETH King Edward V1 School
27 SUTTON COLEFIELD School
March 07
1 MANSFIELD TOWN Study Support Centre.World Book Day
June 07
7/8 WALSALL School Excellence
11 WARMINSTER Get Into Reading
19 EDGWARE School
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5. Poems on ‘ JANUARY 07 MATCH POEMS
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January 2007
20 Jan Lonely Road Alan McKean
19 Jan Exodus – Movement of Shels People
Peter Goulding
19 Jan Double Entendre!kevin raymond
18 Jan Steve the Bruce John Oliver
17 Jan Sheva’s Bought A Sat Nav!
kevin raymond
17 Jan Boro v Hull City (16-01-2007)
George Kirby
11 Jan Cup Runneth Dry Darren O’Keeffe
09 Jan January Sales Emdad Rahman
09 Jan Romance Of The Cup Emdad Rahman
07 Jan Hull City v Boro – FA Cup George Kirby
07 Jan Tamworth v Norwich – FA Cup S B Ingle
07 Jan (Elland) Road To Nowhere Andy Lockett
02 Jan Boro v Sheffield United George Kirby
01 Jan Chelsea Held To A Draw SB Ingle
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
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
joe morris
14th January 2023
joe morris
8th January 2023
kevin raymond
7th January 2023
joe morris
6th January 2023
Crispin Thomas
6th 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!
See in context
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.
See in context
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
See in context
18th August 2022 at 10:20 am
To put it politely!
See in context