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Big Keith

Phil Brennan

Friday, March 5th, 2010

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 My heart goes out to his family
And to all whose paths he crossed
I’m sure he’ll be fondly remembered
By the players that he ‘bossed’

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 Indeed all who ever met him
Say only good things about ‘big Keith’
The giant of a man, with a giant frame
And an even bigger heart, beating underneath

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 He would spend time talking to all he met
As long as football was the game
Fans of his, or some other team
We were treated all the same

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 I recall his time at the County
His stay was unspectacular and brief
But he is still very fondly thought of
As before ‘big Kev’, we had ‘big Keith’

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 I met him a couple of times, years later
Spoke about how he’d made the record books
The Football League’s first ‘black’ manager
And how he’d had many dirty looks

6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 I believe it made him stronger
In his outlook, and his inner belief
It would have taken more than discrimination
To topple the man, they called ‘big Keith’

7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 And so it proved, as God did call his name
Whilst he was manager at ‘Macc’
Keith would have allowed himself a wry smile
As in his honour, England’s finest wore bands of black

8 Leave a comment on verse 8 0 It was ‘big Keith’s’ time, the lord did say
A time of sadness for all he knew
A football giant, such a humble man
But a gentleman through and through

© PhilBrennan58

Notes

Keith Alexander, a football man who had made the journey through ‘non league’ to Football League both as player and Manager died this week, he played for my team (Stockport County) for a short period in his career, I spoke to him some years later whilst taking my coaching ‘badges’ and was struck by his love and understanding of the game.

Goodbye Keith, the Football League has suffered a loss it may never understand.

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/big-keith/