|

25 Years On~Football Poets Jun 2000-Now

Crispin Thomas

Monday, June 16th, 2025

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 a quarter of a century
it’s been a space for you and me
a pitch for creativity
the home for football poetry

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 at twenty five years on we stand
with laptop phone or pen in hand
to share with words that shift like sand
our leagues and games across the land
the rhymes and lines that rise and flow
the poets that will come and go
what makes it work we’ll never know
but still this place continues so

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 we hark back to a golden age
of football on the printed page
in fun or anger joy or rage
from playgrounds to the bigger stage
the People’s Game that we have lost
those grounds in rain and snow and frost
the stadiums and ticket costs
a land where dreams like coins are tossed

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 the mighty we have witnessed fall
the giants standing rich and tall
the minnows strugging through it all
the clubs we follow big and small
but still we’re here in space and time
this place remains as yours and mine
to pen our view in verse and rhyme
the epic poignant to sublime

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 the workshops that it brought us to
the clubs and schools we’ve linked with too
would not have happened without you
and all the stuff you write and do
and looking back I’m proud to say
how glad I am we found a way
while sitting in that small café
with Dave* and Stuart* on that day

6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 to Dennis* Simon* Parry* too
to Christian* who has pulled us through
and built our platform home anew
to keep us going as we do
and I am quite amazed to say
that while the years may fly away
somehow I’ve woken here each day
to check the lines you send our way**

7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 long may we run long may we be
a world of creativity
for young and old for you and me
a home for football poetry

Notes

June 2025 : 25th Anniversary of Football Poets ~ June 2000 – Present

25 years on 18,016 poems to date .From Euro 2000 to now ….who knew?!

***Cannot believe that I’ve looked at this page and edited on here every day since day one. I really must get out more!

*My thanks go to fellow poets *Dennis Gould, *Stuart Butler , *Simon Williams (aka Clik The Mouse) and*Parry Maguire (Clik, Parry and Stuart were all co-editors with me back in the day. Anyone remember Parry’s Post and Butler’s Bench on the old site? )

To everyone who has ever submitted and continues to submits poems .

To Dave Cockcroft, who created and first published the original site in June 2000.

To Christian Wach (The Spirit Of Football/The Ball ) who rescused/ saved/rebuilt and single handedly and voluntarily protects/updates our exisiting home/platform.

To the British Library for archving our site for posterity and who we hope will soon overcome their recent horrendous hacks.

Tags:

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/25-years-of-football-poets-june-2000-present/