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Ode to the (non-league) away traveller

Henry Milward

Friday, July 17th, 2009

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 To the away traveller, for the miles you drive.
To those staunch supporters, whose patience each week is tried
By the road works, diversions, and jams.
By the A14, Lorries, slow coaches, caravans,
But for whom any place can be reached by car,
To those who ask not ‘why?’, but ‘how far?’

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 To those whose second home is Norton Canes,
And a costly, tasteless tea the only reward for a day spent switching lanes.
Those who drove all night for 90 minutes at Holker Street
And those who offered that one spare seat.
To the country roads of Nailsworth, which ran so thin
To a jubilant journey after a prized away win.

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 And lest we forget the train travellers; those platform folk
Who spend their journey full of hope
That the 11.28 will depart on time
And there’ll be a ‘Good Service’ on the Northern Line.

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 To those who’ve arrived five minutes late
And have wondered where in Newark is the North Gate
To those who’ve never seen Harlow’s Mill
And to the fellows who always have time to kill.

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 From Eastbourne to Mansfield, Crawley to Weymouth,
To those for whom 59,850 miles is still not quite enough.
For the throng who shivered at Moss Lane,
And for those who, at Histon, stood out in the rain.

6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 To those who suggest North Wales for a romantic weekend away
And at the last minute mention, ‘the U’s are at Wrexham, didn’t I say?’
To those who’ve only made it to Grays
Equally to the intrepid few who’ve travelled for days.

7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 Come one, come all, in madness United.
See you on the M6 Toll, everyone’s invited!

© Henry Milward 17 Jul 2009

Notes

A poem specifically related to Cambridge United and their away travellers, but you are welcome to change the place names as appropriate. Just there aren’t many places quite like Histon and Crawley.

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/ode-to-the-non-league-away-traveller/