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Anderlecht again for Hammers

joe morris

Thursday, October 6th, 2022

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 Oh for those sweet Belgium buns
That once preceded
Vintage claret and blue
Suppers in the hallowed
Halls of Upton Park
Where Anderlecht met
West Ham in the fondly
Remembered days of the Euro
Cup Winners Cup Final
In the plutonium setting
Of the Heysel
Where later tragedy would
Visit with horror in its wake
Tonight the modern Hammers
Seek retribution, reversal
Of the roles.
You recall your
Floods of frustration
Tears of crestfallen despair
4-2 to Anderlecht
But it could have been so different
If only Frank Lampard
Had back passed to his willing
Colleague rather than a Belgian
Hovering in the wings
Ready to pounce and plunge
On claret and blue fragility
The Belgians of Van Der Elst
Then the Dutchman
Rensenbrink and company
A visual delight on the eye
Gorging on fantasy football
From the passing angels
Far too far sighted and
Visionary on the night
Almost prescient, aware
Of the consequences
Had they lost on their own
Patch of land
But in a way we privately
Acknowledged the East
End character, the defiance
Of the odds
A European Cup Winners Cup
Final that none had ever expected
In any flight of fancy
But then another four years
Until FA Cup trophies
Awaited in chandelier lit
Wembley rooms
Where Arsenal were served
The remnants of leftovers
From the 1979 garlands
Of victory over Man. United
But tonight it’s the latest
Instalment of Belgian waffles
Against East End jellied eels
A feast now fit for our new King
1976 please meet 2022
The past and present
In a sentimental reunion
Anderlecht and West Ham
In UEFA Conference League
It hardly seems possible
History hits the repeat button
Improbable
But true.

Notes

Tonight’s European Conference between West Ham and Anderlecht.

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Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/anderlecht-again-for-hammers/