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130 Yesterdays (Forest Green Rovers 1889-2019)

Crispin Thomas

Thursday, October 17th, 2019

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 it’s so hard to imagine now
way way back in time
the birth of little Forest Green
in eighteen eighty nine
the little hilltop village team
whose changing hut was found
behind the Jovial Forester
a good walk from the ground

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 a pitch all lined with turnips then
when crowds would flock to see
a local team of local men
so long before TV
as through the lower leagues they rose
a hundred years rolled by
Hellenic League and Southern League
the club refused to die

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 it’s sometimes strange to fathom
what drew us here to see
the Rovers for the first time
like some epiphany
but under corrugated iron
we stood among the fans
the black and white the breeze blocks
the tiny little stand
the terraces around the pitch
the ancient iron gate
the days under the radar
when hopes were not that great

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 I tore myself from big-screen pubs
I dropped by when I could
but die-hard fans stuck by them
through all the bad and good
the FA Vase at Wembley win
it feels like yesterday
the moment when we made it as
the Conf’rence came our way

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 and then the years of struggles
the fans and their belief
the Big Boys who we’d watch depart
the hardest league to leave
The Oxfords and the Newports
the Grimsbys with their songs
those play-off magic nights so close
to where this team belongs

6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 while others gazed in wonder
at standards being made
the dream at last was realized
the day we made the grade
And now the revolution
the eco sample set
the journey here to where we are
that old fans won’t forget

7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 but through it all a new belief
among us all was born
as we command respect and awe
up here at the New Lawn
and sometimes as I stand here
and chat with loyal fans
the thoughts go back to yesterday
to how it all began
the little hilltop village team
whose changing hut was found
behind the Jovial Forester
a good walk from the ground

Notes

FGR celebrate their 130th Anniversary v Crewe on Saturday 26th October.

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Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/130-yesterdays-forest-green-rovers-1889-2019/