Football Poets

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.

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