Poems tagged ‘Hillsborough’
Results
5 April, 1902
Scotland one
England one
Match unfinished
9 March, 1946
Bolton Wanderers nil
Stoke City nil
Bolton win two nil on aggregate
2 January, 1971
Rangers one
Celtic one
11 May, 1985
Bradford City nil
Lincoln City nil
Match abandoned after forty-two minutes
29 May, 1985
Juventus one
Liverpool nil
Juventus win the European Cup
15 April, 1989
Liverpool nil
Nottingham Forest nil
Match abandoned after five minutes
Flowers for Adrian
For Adrian Henri (1932-2000)
The worn flagstones of Mount Street
opposite the Liverpool Institute
— the head’s office, I remember
his cabinet full of silver trophies
as he turned me down as a new pupil;
23 years later, I sat on your settee
at 21 Mount Street, a cabinet with a dead
magpie in it, garlanded with paste jewelry
as I drank coffee with connie onnie
and listened to your rich Liverpool accent:
Adrian, pop artist, pop poet,
one of the triumvirate of Sixties
“Liverpool Poets” Henri, McGough, Patten;
you stayed while Roger and Brian decamped
to “The Smoke”–but you were the first to die,
debilitated after your stroke,
your big body wasted but still–
as in your poetry and your artwork,
“I Want To Paint–” as you painted
the football field of bouquets
after the Hillsborough tragedy of ’89:
“Flowers for Liverpool.”
Yes! every Spring, every day,
it’s flowers for Adrian.
Mersey misery for Blues
Liverpool 5-2 Everton
For the Hillsborough families
A show of solidarity
Three decades of resilience
Courage and much dignity
Six goals at half time
Big Divock hits a double
Keane and Richarlison up the Blues
Shaqiri and Mane spell trouble
Sadio squanders a pair
Gini makes Anfied drool
P45 for Marco Silva?
A club record for Liverpool
04 12 19
number7
© emdad rahman
97 souls, NYC
Never forgotten…
even 30 years to the day
all those 97 souls
snatched, no longer to watch or play
Never forgotten…
even from continents away
as I hark back in my mind
with sheer and utter dismay
Never forgotten…
even my bairns do inveigh
at the injustice of Hillsborough
as through New York we foray
30 Years Ago ~ 15.4.89-15.4.19
tears still fill our eyes
for those souls lost needlessly
on this very day ~
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
Crispin Thomas
16th June 2025
Gacina Bozidar
15th June 2025
joe morris
15th June 2025
Stuart Butler
13th June 2025
Alex Saynor
13th June 2025
John Gilbert Ellis
7th June 2025
joe morris
7th June 2025
Denys E. W. Jones
31st May 2025
joe morris
31st May 2025
Clik The Mouse
30th May 2025
Crispin’s Corner
In Memoriam
Kick It Out & Christmas Truce
Latest Comments
7th June 2025 at 5:57 pm
Very well put! My recent favourite came when visiting Chesterfield. They have the ‘LMD Vacuum Excavation Stand’.
May be if you’re in the vacuum excavation business, it’s a beautiful sounding name.
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24th May 2025 at 7:19 am
Hi Steve
I’ve come across you before on the live poetry circuit…something I’ve also been involved in since the late 90s at slams, gigs and festivals. Did you ever get to Glasto?
I was also at Swindon when José subbed and berated Kevin in a League Cup game for Chelsea….
Salah as you point out went the same way…
Be interesting to see Kev’s next move?
Best
Crispin
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24th April 2025 at 1:05 pm
Hey Denys..love this
“You may be a miner working down a pit.
You may be a rock star playing sold out gigs.
You may be a fireman putting out a blaze.
You may be an inmate chalking off the days. ”
Not just Dylan but maybe an unintentional nod to and shades of Ian Dury’s enigmatic ‘What A Waste’ rhythmic scanning..eg:
I could be the driver in an articulated lorry
I could be a poet I wouldn’t need to worry
I could be a teacher in a classroom full of scholars
I could be the sergeant in a squadron full of wallahs
What a waste
What a waste
Was lucky enough to meet and interview him twice.
Best wishes from Forest Green to Genoa C
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8th March 2025 at 2:34 pm
Thanks Crispin
I’ve been to FGR a couple of times in the past – great food! Barnet look like they have the NL sewn up for this season, but I wish you well for promotion next season.
Regards, Beth
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11th January 2025 at 8:13 am
TO ADD THIS TO THIS POEM’S COMMENT:WELCOME BACK DAVID MOYES!!!
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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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