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Nat Lofthouse broke my heart.

John Oliver

Tuesday, January 18th, 2011

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 I was at my Granny’s enjoying a bowl
Of her piping hot home made broth
It will warm the cockles of your heart
She used to say, but I was never sure what she meant
But it always tasted delicious.
Saturday morning February 28th 1953
F.A. cup quarter final day, and little Gateshead
Of the Third division North playing
The mighty Bolton Wanderers at Redheugh Park.
Men, many with strange accents, with rosettes
Pinned to their coats, with small silver FA cups in the centre
Were making their way down Bensham Bank
Passing my granny’s terraced street.
17,692 supporters packed into Redheugh that day
And I was one of them, squatted on the raised
Greyhound track that surrounded the muddy pitch.
I can still remember the games only goal
A left wing cross deep into the Gateshead half
And the England centre forward
The great Nat Lofthouse soared high
Above everyone to head home the winner
And broke a young Gateshead lads heart.

© OLIVER 2011

Notes

Just a little memory of the first time I saw the great Nat Lofthouse play. That 6th round tie was to be the finest hour in my home town clubs history, and the day the great man won the tie for the Wanderers at the now long gone Redheugh Park. Ah those boyhood memories, priceless.

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/nat-lofthouse-broke-my-heart/