A welcome in June and July
In June and July 2008, we welcomed the following new contributors to this site :
Christopher Fernie
Lucy Marciano
And we welcome back, a blast from the past :
Matt Hanson who last posted in 2005.
John Williams who last posted in 2002.
Click on the names above to see that person’s poem(s), or browse some selected first efforts below :
For George
You found your feet in Manchester,
The goal of so many Irishmen before,
But you didin’t come to cut canals,
Or lay tracks for trundling trains,
Or dig drains on mist-chilled mornings,
Or glean the wheat in autumnal shadows –
No, you scythed through hapless defences,
Navigating your own wayward paths,
Draining statuesque men of hope
As you harvested your golden field
Now in darkness at your painful passing,
But your gyrating genius will still be seen
By a thousand terraces of tearful eyes,
And the rapturous cheers will still be heard.
© Christopher Fernie
I wrote this poem in 2006 to commemorate the first anniversary of the death of George Best. The poem appears on a postcard which is on sale exclusively at the National Football Museum, Preston. Any income from the sale of the card is divided equally between the George Best Foundation and the museum in its charitable status.
Not again – this time it’s Sven
With England, he faced the nations wrath
But at City he led them down a structured path
He inherited a club, with no vision or hope
And brought players in to give it future scope
His target was Europe, no matter which way
And they qualified, all be it from the Fair Play
This was Sven the football man
No mention of Ulrika or Faria Alam
Calm and cool, his players listened and learned
The media took notice, his reputation returned
But now he has fallen foul of a ruthless Thai
He is not happy with his performance, my question is why?
As owner he can hire and fire, it’s his decision to choose
But how are things better by trying to bring in Mark Hughes?
City fans are used to change
But a former Red Devil seems highly strange
I can’t see his name being sung to the max
It certainly would never have happened, in the old Kippax
Sven will come back from this, that we all know
His pay off will no doubt soften the blow
But in a game of such pressure and the demands so high
It’s little wonder we keep waving our managers goodbye.
© Matt Hanson
McFootball
I dreamed Bill Gates had bought West Brom on his banker’s good advice.
He said, ‘Tony, if it’s cash you want, you won’t need to ask twice.’
So Mowbray got to work and with the first stroke of his pen
He signed van Nistelroy, and with the second, Arsharvin.
Then Klose, Torres, Ribery, and more and more, they came
To strut along the Brummie Road, the finest in the game.
Within a year we’d won the Premier League and FA Cup.
Next year we won the Champions League, and things were looking up.
And for a while the Baggies fans boing-boinged and were delighted,
As their team struck fear into the hearts of Chelski and United.
But other changes came along, some daft, some quite insane;
You couldn’t get a balti pie – just lobsters and champagne.
And ticket prices rose and rose – you’d question the morality.
New boxes lined the Smethwick End for corporate hospitality.
They roofed the lot so that the nobs below would not get wet,
And built a strip where Bill & Co. could land a Lear Jet.
And year by year the Baggies grew in wealth and power and fame,
So I went to watch the Wolves; the Hawthornes wasn’t quite the same.
© John Williams 22nd June 2008
This poem started with me watching Arsharvin in Euro 2008, and wondering what might happen if the Baggies could sign him. (If only…)
A Girly Football Experience
He sits and listens, watches
ignoring me
i jump as they scream and shout
penalty
injured knee
waiting for the next pub roar
I’m hoping they wont score
it happened once before
i got picked up, swung round, and dropped on the floor.
© Lucy Marciano
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
joe morris
8th October 2024
Crispin Thomas
6th October 2024
joe morris
6th October 2024
Denys E. W. Jones
2nd October 2024
joe morris
2nd October 2024
Mike Bartram
30th September 2024
joe morris
26th September 2024
joe morris
19th September 2024
Clik The Mouse
18th September 2024
Clik The Mouse
18th September 2024
Crispin’s Corner
In Memoriam
Kick It Out & Christmas Truce
Latest Comments
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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25th April 2024 at 1:56 pm
Thanks Joe,
you might like to write a poem yourself on the same subject…
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23rd April 2024 at 4:03 pm
Hi Denys
With you all the way on the abolition of FA Cup replays. What are they doing to the game?
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