Rhys Jones R.I.P.
Our deepest sympathy to Rhys’s family and friends
Johnny Todd
Their song, “Johnny Todd,” rings out into the night
And we give our hearts to the three in blue and white
Then applause for little Rhys as his Everton hymn fades
Amidst madness and grief, a certain beauty pervades
© Mark Thomas
For Melanie, Stephen and Owen Jones.
Rhys Jones, an eleven year old, was shot by a teenager on a BMX bike in Croxteth, Liverpool, as he walked home from playing football last Wednesday. Last night, his family was given a standing ovation by fans at Anfield, prior to the game against Toulouse. The Everton song “Johnny Todd” (better known as the theme tune to Z Cars) was played in tribute as the players arrived on the pitch.
Melanie Jones, his mother, suggested Rhys would have been looking down and smiling in the knowledge that he was the reason the song was being played at Anfield … I hope he was.
There is no …
There is a Portuguese saying that loosely translates into :
“There is no endless misery neither everlasting happiness.”
Try telling that to the McCann’s
Or to Rhys Jones’s family
Neither can see beyond the first declaration
Only one can currently cling to the latter
And no matter
What Everton’s fortunes this season
Even an unlikely Premiership title will only see –
Them and us celebrate within reason
© Clik the mouse, 27th August 2007
The quote taken from a response to an article by Clive James on the BBC website, unrelated to football, but the original essay was about feeling guilty at feeling happy when there is so much around us to be unhappy about.
Genuine heartfelt emotion poured out during the minutes applause for Rhys Jones at Saturday’s game, Everton v Blackburn, 25/08/2007
Another wasted life
Empty seat in the stand.
A minutes silence.
Empty seat at the table.
Silent tears.
Empty seat at school.
Fond memories.
Empty promises.
Nothing new.
© jim Dolbear.24.08.2007.
Another angel to watch over us.
Wee boy
Just a small, wee boy.
Rhys Jones, Evertonian,
A loss to football
A loss to Goodison Park.,
But heartbreak for his parents.
© Alan McKean August 2007
Such a waste.
Rest wee man
Rhys Jones, Evertonian
There’s one team
Playing with ten men
There’s a mother
Who won’t see her son again
A father in a stadium
Next to an empty seat
Schoolmates who will never forget
The boy who played out on their street
There’s a brother
Who lost a brother who cannot be replaced
There are neighbours remembering
The boy with a smile upon his face
There will be a minutes silence
At Goodison this week
But for those with information
The time has come to speak
© S B Ingle 24.8.07
Football seems irrelevant but it was important to Rhys Jones, a big part of his life, and it is fitting that he will be remembered at Goodison Park tomorrow. I hope that the way Rhys lived his life will comfort his family and inspire his friends. May happy memories light the dark times ahead.
With my sincere condolences.
When Football Lies Back In The Shadows
picture the scene
when your life is so young
when you’re out on the street
when you’re having some fun
when playing connects you
and takes you away
from all of the stuff
that bombards you each day
when no-one can offer
an answer today
why an innocent child
has his life blown away
when a park in the summer’s
no longer ok
that’s when football
lies back in the shadows
and the reasons are endless
however you try
too young to fight back
and too young to die
when a child of eleven
is no longer safe
to go kicking a ball
with a couple of mates
when all of your future
is clouded in fears
and all of your dreams
become flooded in tears
for these are the questions
and these are the times
when you hang on to something
or cling on to signs
as somewhere a family’s
grieving with pain
knowing they’ll never
see their child again –
that’s when football
lies back in the shadows
while talk shows and tabloids
host phone ins and views
this culture still spreads
and assaults us with news
of where to point fingers
and who is to blame
when it’s no longer safe
to go out for a game
for this is the feeling
that sadness can bring
lying and crying
behind everything
but this is an action
we can’t understand
he was one of so many
young Everton fans
he was on his way home
on some usual road
and no one minute silence
will lighten this load –
that’s why football
lies back in the shadows
© Crispin Thomas ’07
Our deepest and most sincere sympathies go out to the family and friends of young Rhys, so senselessly gunned down after a summer
game of football in Liverpool, on a nearby park with mates aged 11.
What can his parents and loved ones be feeling about life now, we shudder to think?
I just listened to an hour long debate with young childen expressing their fears, hopes and understanding of what is happening right now. I felt I had to say something, even if words always fall short and wil not change things . What can we do? Two years ago I worked at Everton Study Support Centre with some great kids of Year 4,5 & 6 aged 9,10 and 11. Children , many of them struggling with learning but fresh faced , all races excited to be at the club, driven by football, thinking about their futures. Something I know i struggled with in my youth in London. Today I just feel (again )so very very sad.
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
joe morris
4th December 2023
John Gilbert Ellis
3rd December 2023
Rowan Waller
2nd December 2023
Clik The Mouse
1st December 2023
joe morris
1st December 2023
joe morris
30th November 2023
joe morris
26th November 2023
Crispin Thomas
26th November 2023
Richard Williams
26th November 2023
kevin raymond
24th November 2023
Crispin’s Corner
In Memoriam
Kick It Out & Christmas Truce
Latest Comments
19th November 2023 at 1:45 pm
Thanks Gacina, glad you liked it, and I have just posted a new one about our points deduction…
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7th November 2023 at 6:34 pm
Today B.B.C post on F.B was titled:Premier League reduced to 18 clubs? I really think it may be interesting to see if this would be Everton’s nightmare and this poem is well suited for this concern.If there would be more difficult battle to stay if there were 18 teams.Great poem and somehow true.
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6th November 2023 at 4:43 pm
Ashington FC have launched a £50,000 Crowdfunder appeal to meet the increased costs of winning promotion last season, to pay for urgent stadium improvements, travel costs and equipment
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31st October 2023 at 4:26 pm
‘Three Teams Worse Than Us’ from our Toffee friend Denys in Italy, also sums up how FGR fans currently feel. Yes, in our case, with two going down to the Conference, it could be entitled ‘Two Teams Worse Than Us’, but three would make us feel even safer.
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6th October 2023 at 11:49 pm
Enjoy it while you can, although I’m sure Mbappe could well be bound for St James
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2nd October 2023 at 1:52 pm
There still remains a magic about the early rounds of the FA Cup that the premier league / internationals can never match.
Coventry Sphinx v Leicester Nirvana sounds so much more than a tale of two cities etc. etc.
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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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