Football Poets

Motty

classic shots and lines from games
there are loads I know
the freezing figure of the man
just standing in the snow
blizzard howling round his head
empty pitch and stand
the patron saint of sheepskin coats
soaking notes in hand – Motty

all the gaffes and all the quotes
tumble into one
forty years within our ears
through fog and rain and sun
love or loathe him with his tone
he drove some people potty
this national treasured nightmare
but who can challenge Motty?

At Anfield that October
back in ’71
from Hereford to Wembley
the journey had begun
with random facts from annuals
that bordered on the dotty
enthusiastic quite bombastic
no one else but Motty

diatribe or common sense ?
never one for fashion
old school comic phrases
but always with that passion
from Fulham to the Nou Camp
The Bridge to Mexico
waxing lyrics from the air
to let the nation know
and like a kid at his first game
with glasses shorts and spotty
down the years the joys and tears
we’ve all been there ….with Motty

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John Motson ~ The Man The Coat The Mike

call him old fashioned but he had his own style
churned out facts like an old speed dial
started out way back in sixty nine*
Motty was a one off in his own time
call him quirky and say what you like
Motty was the man with the coat and the mike

first commentating that I ever heard
were big Ken Wolstenholme’s old school words
some of us began with Brian Moore
and never knew the truth about Stuart Hall
Archie McPherson’s a passionate Scot
but none of them prepared like our Johnny Mott
Peter Jones had a fabulous style
and David Coleman by a country mile
Bob Wilson kept it thoughtful and mild
Hoddle drove would-be psychics wild
Barry Davies had a powerful throat
but John had a beautiful sheepskin coat

in between the passion and the attitude
some found Alan Green feisty and rude
Jimmy Armfield had depth and soul
and brave Jacqui Oatley really broke the mould
Jimmy Hill drove me totally potty
but for stats on acid you couldn’t beat Motty

Motty was the one for the real classic lines
one of them’ll last til the end of time :
“For all of you watching in black and white
Spurs are in yellow ” he said one night
and here’s another one that was really well meant:
“The World Cup’s a truly international event!”
Motty!

but I think of Motty wherever I go
standing in a blizzard knee deep in snow
notes in his hand cap on his head
looking like ‘Del Boy’ longing for his bed
serious expression -standing all alone
telling us “It’s off!”…..as if we didn’t know
that was Motty

call him old fashioned he had his own style
churned out facts like an old speed dial
started out way back in sixty nine
Motty was a one off in his own time
call him quirky say what you like
but Motty was the man with the coat and the mike

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