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JOHN HENTY — the Voice of Crystal Palace

John J O’Connor

Friday, September 16th, 2005

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 In football there are legends,
Crystal Palace have had plenty,
and one of those, though not a player,
is a bloke they call JOHN HENTY.

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 He never played for Palace,
though his father played one game,
being the Voice of Palace,
was John Henty’s claim to fame.

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 He ran the P.A system,
making announcements for the crowd,
and the fans they loved his music,
which before games he played aloud.

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 Born locally in Croydon,
around the time of war,
his first match watching Palace,
was Northampton in a draw.

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 John attended school at Whitgift,
which for him was quite a bugger,
cos though he loved his football,
the school code was strictly rugger.

6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 He then did his National Service,
intended to make teens strong and wiser,
returned back home and got a job,
with the Croydon Advertiser.

7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 Next the local hospital radio,
found John’s talents that were hidden,
and he broadcast games from Selhurst Park,
to cheer up the bedridden.

8 Leave a comment on verse 8 0 And as he voiced the action back,
and brought them every thrill,
he knew a Palace victory,
would heal better than a pill.

9 Leave a comment on verse 9 0 It was the swinging 60’s now,
music and footer began to blend,
and Palace hired JOHN HENTY,
to keep up with the trend.

10 Leave a comment on verse 10 0 So the fans would sing along to music,
surge and sway and jive,
and the song that John was famed for,
was by the DAVE CLARK FIVE.

11 Leave a comment on verse 11 0 The song was ‘ Glad All Over’
he played it when the sides appeared,
and the fans adopted it as their theme,
as on the team they cheered.

12 Leave a comment on verse 12 0 They’d bang the boards and hoardings,
around the Selhurst ground,
” AS I’M FEELING’ crash, crash, ‘ GLAD ALL OVER’,
made an exhilarating, rousing sound.

13 Leave a comment on verse 13 0 John faithfully served the Palace,
with pride and dedication,
he watched us win promotions,
and our fights with relegation.

14 Leave a comment on verse 14 0 He also worked with Brighton Radio,
a fact I was going to ignore,
cos as everyone at Selhurst knows,
he was Palace to the core.

15 Leave a comment on verse 15 0 ‘ Whatever Happened to John Henty?’
is the name of his Auto Bi,
and if music and football is your scene,
you should go give it a try.

16 Leave a comment on verse 16 0 John lives in a place called Lewes now,
I don’t know —- is that near Dover?
but I do know he left the Palace fans,
‘FEELIN’ GLAD ALL OVER.

© John J O’Connor johpalcon@aol.com

Notes

Hope this shows that not all club legends are players or managers. John ( the shovel ) Sewell the ex Palace captain is great friends with John Henty and he filled me in with one or two details and inspired me to write the piece. So if their is any stato’s out there, Mr Sewell gets an assist on this.

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/john-henty-the-voice-of-crystal-palace/