Football Poets

New Lawn New Dawn

¶ 1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 New Lawn new dawn New Year
Christmas the snow and hastily completed tax returns
have all come and gone since the last home match here ~
above the hill the windmill turns
a farmer on a tractor casts a quizzical glance
at giant solar panels by the white wooden club gate
as he saunters down the hill oblivious

¶ 2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 no cash on the turnstiles any more
but you don’t need debit cards
for the home made veggie burgers on offer here
at the club they call the greenest in the land…
welcome to Forest Green Rovers

¶ 3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 as he keys his pin into the waiting whirring machine
the guy in front in the queue is saying to the box office lady
“It feels good to be back” ..and it is
outside green hills and sheep meet a blue blue sky
the air is crisp and cold in the blinding sun
and with a good hour to kick off
there’s a distinct Welsh vibe today

¶ 4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 it’s Ireland-Wales on two screens surrounded by red shirts
and us catching QPR-Norwich on the other
550 hardy souls we’re told have made the long trip
from Wrexham to be here
and they mingle easily with the Rovers faithful

¶ 5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 every time I come here
to wander past ancient stone walls
and indifferent donkeys by the roundabout entrance
I’m forever staggered how a sleepy Cotswold village club
can be up here so high on this wind-blown hill
entertaining not just great sides with history and pasts
but the dream of being in the league themselves too
and today there are 1800 who share that very dream

¶ 6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 we’re so close you can hear the players shout
as we lean on bars you only get on standing terraces
you can shout to goalies who reply too
and though the game passes goal-less
in a real-time whirr of possible pens
missed chances & neat saves
the aubile away support
and the wicked banter from home fans is worth it all
after all a point gained is two taken from promotion rivals

¶ 7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 “You wanna live here ! ”
they taunt their Welsh counterparts from the home terrace
as the drum beats out one last time – and we do

¶ 8 Leave a comment on verse 8 0 minutes later snaking and winding our way through the lanes
promotion or no promotion non-league or non-league
it hits you inside and you know that’s it
what an incredible place we live in
and football too on our cottage doorsteps
what more to ask what’s not to love?

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