Poems tagged ‘Match of The Day’
Patch of the Day
It seems like forever
that we’ve heard that iconic-goose-bump-inducing signature tune…..
followed by incumbent presenter welcoming us all
to edited highlights, mapping a ball
then cameras roll…
action!…
players play
managers cuss, curse and cajole
refs blow up for baffling and inconsistent decisions
now VAR draws lines of contentious precisions…
piqued pundits opine
and we, at home, whine
at all of the above
especially when
its defeat for the team we love!
But today?
Today is vastly different.
We’ve made it through the recent era
where Covid took away loved ones
also forcing an abandonment of football from our schedules
and then with tentative re-enablement
we got used to silence from the terraces
But again…. Today
Today was silence from off-screen
when we did hear the crowds
but no crowded words from already Motty-less mics
no pithy punditry
and a day when stadium announcers, became our proxy commentators
This silence?
All because the BBC
sought to silence the social media activity
censoring Gary Lineker’s affinity
of voicing his beliefs…..
BBC chiefs
need to act fast
to restore the show and the cast!
Time For A Change.
Honeymoon over, done ‘n dusted
Our first eleven proper mustard
Compared to dire performances of before
Proverbial writing on the wall
An icon, lost sight of the spherical
Sorry son, on your way out…shut the door.
Finally, the unwritten code is broken
Out there in plain sight, in the open
Under scrutiny in the real World, fans inhabit?
He didn’t have the chutzpah did he
Well if, I thought in admiration via B.T,
There’s a prize for being visionary, we’ll ‘ave it?
Three smug post-match ex-pros
On a late-night football show
Agreed, that isn’t how we do things here
After all, does he really need
To instigate a frenzied media feed?
Why not just have a quiet word in his ear?
Listening in, I had to bite my tongue
At their stance our gaffer should stay shtum,
The credit column of their managerial yield?
Admiring an angry kick at a bottle of water
By a winger, had he performed as ordered
Might well still be out there on the field?
What goes on in the dressing room…
Swept away by a stiff new broom
Irrespective of the personal gain or loss
Have the days of player power
Been scrutinized, toyed with, devoured
By a simple one act drama, I’m The Boss?
The new normal will soon come
Akin to rays of soothing Summer sun
We’ll bask again in a football club’s hub bub
While over in London South West Six
A few rich derrieres have begun to twitch
After witnessing Thomy Tuchel tug the sub.*
Larbi Ben Mbarek: The forgotten genius
The first to strike gold in Europe
Was that famous Black Pearl
Fondly known as Benbarek
To others the Moroccan Earl
El Ouatane aged fourteen
Honed the Black Pearl’s stealth
Two Spanish titles for El Prodigio
Order of Merit after his death
Forty three goals for Stade Français
As Larbi walked the walk
Fifty six as Spain’s Perla Negra
La perle noir du Maroc
From twenty Francs a day
An Iberian prince at Marseille
The first ever “black pearl”
Very high praise from Pele
Eight goals against Southend
A first French cap against Italy
War loomed and Larbi went home
With the arrival of the Nazi
French journalists raged in despair
When Atletico signed a cheque
One wrote; ‘Sell the Eiffel Tower,
But not Ben Barek’
Idéal Club Casablanca and US Marocaine
Stade Français adding spice
Atlético Madrid Los Rojiblancos
Where Larbi won La Liga twice
Nineteen caps for Les Bleus no myth
Danced on dictator Franco’s deck
Bel-Abbès and a stadium named
For Haj Abdelkader Larbi Ben M’barek
number7
© emdad rahman
Only One Match Of The Day (@ Dover)
perhaps it was that mid-day kick off
with a fever all over the land
and aside from Manchester and Glasgow
this was the one for real fans
on a day like today you could feel it
in a match that will stir memories
when two of the big boys faced battle
where you can’t see the pitch for the trees
but the media didn’t quite notice
and we never quite grab their attention
it might be entitled the National
but we never get much of a mention
If you’re outside the North and you’re not overseas
if you live near to where your team play
forget all the hype in the papers
there was only one match of the day
you could say that we’re just poor relations
if you went in your pub they would jeer
but with only two screens when the big boys are on
then you wouldn’t see Forest Green there
you could call up the club and the Green Man
but they’re closed and your plans looked all over
and none of your mates had got BT installed
who were showing the Rovers at Dover
and what did they miss at Old Trafford
or at Celtic Park on such a day
they missed out a seven goal thriller
in a game Forest Green threw away
perhaps it was sloppy- complacent
and we ran out the losers 4-3
we’re a swashbuckling side and we’re learning
we move on..que sera…we will see
Bear Ears Has Welshed.
I felt as if I’d been totally conned
When he strode on to settle his bet with aplomb
I mean what kind of Match of The Day presenter
Wears a pair of football shorts monogrammed…Leicester
(for five minutes, disguised as his underwear)
Proving he’s a bottler, blimey, he could of at least wore a thong!
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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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joe morris
17th November 2024
Crispin Thomas
17th November 2024
kevin halls
10th November 2024
joe morris
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Clik The Mouse
10th November 2024
Clik The Mouse
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Alex Saynor
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joe morris
29th October 2024
joe morris
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Denys E. W. Jones
16th October 2024
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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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