Poems tagged ‘Non League’
Prescot Cables FC
Prescot Cables FC
Now there’s
The sweetest sound
Of them all to those who
Adore the unfashionable
And unknown
Football in its
Warmest corner
Of a non League cupboard
Next to the quaint
Chest of drawers
Where the carriage clock
Rang quietly, peacefully
On the timeless mantelpiece
My lovely family witnessed
Its modest majesty
No fanfares, plaudits
No Match of the Day
Acclamation and confirmation
No egos or million pound
Contracts
Superstar auras
Ideas above any station
Just little, contented
Prescot Cables FC
Yes Prescot Cables FC
Electrifying certainly
Ladies and Gentlemen
Next to a wall
With glad tidings
Of floral graffiti
A ladybird to decorate
Your eyes
Before reaching those
Match box turnstiles
And gorgeous huts
Masquerading as terraces
This is the way football
Should be but is yet
Forgotten when the thousands
Of Premier League cheering
Subsides like the fading
Thunder claps of defeat
Or victory have yet to be
Announced in full splendour
On any weekend of your choosing
Any place, any time
Next to Prescot Cables FC where
The parachute regiments
Prepare for military
Battles, but never
There on Merseyside
Or any side
At any point in
The future
Apparently Prescot Cables FC
Were beaten 1-0
In midweek engagements
But not the end of the
World for a community
Where football is
A lifelong devotion
To an unswerving
Commitment to the cause
Prescot within a Liver Birds
Distance of the mighty
Anfield Liverpool battalions
With the last cries
From Everton’s Goodison Park
Just a heartbeat away
Prescot Cables FC as opposed to Preston
Hidden away in the game’s
Tranquil backwaters
Rippling pools of life
As opposed to the raging currents
Of the big boys League
Higher up football’s dizzying
Altitudes
Where only the fittest survive
Or so we’re led to believe
Just happy to belong
To football’s always
Protective community
Never airs or graces
Postures or affectations
Certainly not
Small and modest
Permanently Non League
Perhaps but you never know
It could happen one day
Fling open those curtains
And blinds and
Let the radiant sunbeams
Of League Two flood
Over this humble North West
England field of dormant
FA Cup glories potentially
Perchance to dream
The impossible dream
Prescot Cables FC we wish you
Well, proceed to loftier
Stages one day
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
This Is For Those Who Travel
this is for those who travel
this is for those who care
this is for those who give up their time
to follow their team evr’ywhere
this is for seeing new places
by car or by coach or by train
this is for being outnumbered
and standing outside in the rain
this is for those who are loyal
the faces you spot on the day
and this is for those who are faithful
who turn up at home come what may
this is for where you can stand up and sing
with raffles read out at half time
this is for where you can bring in a drum
or hold up your flags and your signs
but this is for always believing
success is a very fine line
and should it be ours in this season or next
it will happen we know in good time
In Good Time
this is for those who travel
this is for those who care
this is for those who give up their time
to follow their team ev’rywhere
this is for seeing new places
by car or by coach or by train
this is for being outnumbered
and standing outside in the rain
there where the adverts are local
on old fashioned big wooden signs
where terraces still rise in concrete
with raffles read out at half time
this is for those who are loyal
the faces you spot on the day
and this is for those who are faithful
who turn up at home come what may
and this is for keeping it going
whether in village or town
where new boys and giants who’ve dropped from the league
compete in their half empty grounds
and this is for those who no longer
are drawn by the Premier’s sway
where stadiums rise up like space ships
and TV dictates when they play
and this is for always believing
success is a very fine line
and should it be ours in this season or next
it will happen for sure in good time
A Meadow Park Scoreboard
A trophy haul to rival Ferguson’s,
but new seasons don’t feel so new any more.
An imaginary game in the village of Solva,
a training camp in the Austrian Alps,
immaculate pitches, mountains
and thunderclouds. A refurbished Meadow Park.
A dwindling summer, birds leaving these isles,
longer shadows in the parks at dusk.
Careful writing to prepare for the term
and reflect on a too-early start
to the football season column of wins
and losses, out-of-context judgements
from inspectors with no categories for castles
filling a classroom or shields fluttering
in rows from the ceiling. How many steps
beyond outstanding would you have to stretch the grid
to contend with Mr Wickens’
defences against ignorance, optimism planted
and hope inspired: the sense of a place
in the world he would help you to occupy.
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
28th April 2024
Richard Williams
26th April 2024
joe morris
25th April 2024
Denys E. W. Jones
25th April 2024
kevin halls
23rd April 2024
Alex Saynor
23rd April 2024
joe morris
23rd April 2024
Crispin Thomas
22nd April 2024
Denys E. W. Jones
21st April 2024
joe morris
20th April 2024
Crispin’s Corner
In Memoriam
Kick It Out & Christmas Truce
Latest Comments
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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23rd April 2024 at 3:59 pm
Hi Crispin,
Yes sorry mate. Villa are still in Europe. Mistake rectified.
Cheers
Joe
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20th April 2024 at 12:04 pm
Hi Joe
Shouldn’t your title read your poem Farewell Europe England to everyone exccept Aston Villa ?
I know you mention them in your poem , but I do feel sorry for Villa re the national press .
Largely ignored. the hype was was all about Man City & Arsenal with a bit of a nod to the Hammers..but hardly a mention of Villa..
So well done to them
C
.
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19th March 2024 at 8:00 am
Hi Crispin. Chris Sutton on the radio has gone for a Chelsea v Coventry final. As we know anything can happen in the Cup, and I reckon we can go to the final.
We’re still in with a chance of the play offs too, so lots to go for.
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19th March 2024 at 7:41 am
Hey Kev
Let the masses drool over their odds on City v Unted Final, but who knows how pressure can hit.
Cov and Chels will be rightly labelled as having no chance..but hey …stranger things have happened..
so Chelsea v Coventry…that’s the Final for us!
Best
C
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