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Danger in the box

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 The goalposts :
draw our attention
focus our aim
set our goals

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 The goalposts :
come to our aid
deflecting in
or out, as required

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 The goalposts :
the ultimate target
as we strive
to achieve

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 The goalposts :
cementing
earth and sky
and dreams

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 The goalposts –
and slack standards –
robbing young life
from families and teams

Notes

Dedicated to the memories of
Andrew Fitzgerald & Lee Lucchesi
who were killed in freak accidents by falling soccer goalposts.

Andrew was aged 10, from Grange, Co Limerick
and died on 5/8/2004 at Holycross soccer club.

Lee, also aged 10, was from Dundalk, Co Louth
and died 14/9/2003 at Navan Town FC, when they were playing against Woodview Celtic of Dundalk, who were captained by Lee’s father.

FAI Statement, from 6th August 2004 :

The Football Association of Ireland Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Fran Rooney expressed sincere sympathy with the family of the young Limerick boy, Andrew Fitzgerald, who died following a tragic accident while playing football with a local Limerick club.
Mr. Rooney said, “No one can say anything at a time like this which adequately expresses the sadness we all feel at the tragic loss of a child. Our thoughts and prayers are with the parents, family and friends of Andrew, who was a great lover of football”.

The Football poets would like to echo the same sentiments.

Extracted from The Post.ie ;

An official survey carried out two years before the accidental death of a schoolboy footballer in Limerick last week warned that one-third of goalposts in state schools could be unsafe.

In 2002, the State Claims Agency carried out a survey of goalposts in six community and comprehensive schools.

The agency’s report, sent out to 90 schools early last year, found that frames were not fixed together in 30 per cent of cases and that 35 per cent of goals were inadequately anchored.

It reported that 30 per cent of goalposts were not installed in ground sockets and 43 per cent were made of inappropriate materials, such as heavy metal which corroded easily.

“Many of the goal frames used in Ireland are unsafe because they are improperly designed, manufactured or installed,” said the report.

“These goal frames have caused three child fatalities in Ireland in the last three years.”

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/danger-in-the-box/?shared=email&msg=fail