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Fogbound and Forgotten About!

kevin raymond

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 As *pea souper descended
The ref whistled “Time”
On two teams of pretenders
Wound up, and primed.

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 Trooping angrily back to the dressing room
To a welcome warm cuppa and fags
The manager exclaimed out aloud through the gloom
“T’would seem that we’re missing a man!”

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 Out went the kit man with a flashlight
To search through the mire for lost chap
Still crouching and stretching, alone on his goal line
In a polo necked sweater and cap.

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 “Games been called off” roared the kit man
“The other lads are all supping warm tea
“Ref blew the whistle before action began
It’s so foggy, I can just see me feet”.

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 Espying bright beam of said flashlight
Lost keeper made tracks for the showers
But dressing room doors at that time of night
Had been bolted for at least half an hour.

6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 Other lads, sat on bus, were in stitches
As their lost fog bound keeper was found
Left out on his tod*, on a vast empty pitch
As swirling pea souper came down.

7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 Stood alone on his line, a naive young man
Forgotten about keeper, and lost line of defence
Made his mind up there and then, if it was foggy next game
He’d stay indoors, if he’d a modicum of sense!

© kev 008

Notes

*Todd Sloane was a top American jockey who came over to ride in England, whose name is used in cockney rhyming slang as; on yer todd, or ‘on me todd ‘meaning on your own or on my own.This poem is inspired by a story that I’ve read, where something similar actually happened to a keeper, but who the goalie was, I’m afraid I can’t remember?.peace.kev
EDITOR NOTE
The game took place at Stamford Bridge in the early fifties : .The goalie was the legendary Sam Bartram of Charlton Athletic .During a game against Chelsea, when thick fog made visibility impossible, Sam pattrolled his line faithfully assuming his team were keeping the Pensioners in their own half. Unbeknown to Sam, the game had been abandoned fifteen minutes earlier… and he was finally discovered alone on the pitch!

*Pea Soupers (incredibly dense thick fog that would suddenly descend )were not just freak weather but were actually discovered to be caused by the smoke from coal-burning London (and big city ) fireplaces – now banned. I met Sam’s daughter recently when the staute was unfurled at The Valley. The incident is also mentioned in another poem by yours truly ‘
on this site Statue In The Mis Re-visited – Crispin Thomas
Hope this helps young Raymond sir!

“and some recall the time the fog
rolled thick across the field
when Sam could neither see nor hear a sound
til rescued by a ‘copper’
from that long abandoned game
with teams and fans
all long gone from the ground!*

Crispin

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/fogbound-and-forgotten-about/