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John Thomson

GedBoy

Tuesday, September 6th, 2005

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 There lies a grave in Cardenden
A hero’s home for years
A man who kept the Celtic goal
A legend bred from tears

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 That day in Fife in ’31
They laid John’s body down
They’d dug a lair up on the hill
Made holy Celtic ground

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 John Thomson’s time had come so quick
His race had run too soon
His life snuffed out by fortune cruel
One fateful afternoon

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 The blameless Sam had run the ball
And bore down on our John
A clash like many ‘fore or since
And Celtic’s bhoy was gone

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 The crowd was hushed, the doctors rushed
To help him in his hour
But John had gone where humankind
Had neither realm nor power

6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 So many miles the legions walked
To say goodbye to John
The roads were thronged the trains were full
Of broken hearts in Celtic song

7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 An Autumn day of deep despair
But misery that morn
Gave way to hope for all who saw
A timeless story born

8 Leave a comment on verse 8 0 They shall not die – they shall not die
The verse they carved was true
The words they scribed upon the cross
Made light of death anew

9 Leave a comment on verse 9 0 John Thomson lives in all the hearts
Of those he left behind
His memory will never die
When Celtic comes to mind

10 Leave a comment on verse 10 0 There on a hill in Fife he lies
A stone wall backs his cross
The years go by and dim our pain
The agony of loss

11 Leave a comment on verse 11 0 The Kingdom came to take John home
The Dear Green Place was blessed
From Paradise John Thomson went
To his eternal rest

Notes

John Thomson was a genius goalkeeper who was killed in an accidental collision with Rangers’ Sam English in an Old Firm Game at Ibrox Sep 5th 1931. He was only 22.

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/john-thomson-2/