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Of football pitches and gravel

Peter Goulding

Monday, May 4th, 2009

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 In life, there’s things,
Like Lords and Rings,
That seem to go together.
Wingers, crosses,
Foul mouths, bosses,
Bank Holidays, crap weather.
Whiskey, soda,
Shoes and odour,
A district judge and gavel,
But two distinct
Things are not linked –
A football pitch and gravel.

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 Columbus sailed,
His ship prevailed,
But nowhere could he berth it.
Poor Scott toiled on
Till hope was gone –
The journey wasn’t worth it.
Useless trips
On skis, on ships –
But who would think to travel
To Donegal
To watch a ball
Get punctured on the gravel?

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 A dead-eyed sleuth
Seeks out the truth
And clears up any mystery.
From Holmes to Morse,
They oft recourse
To precedents in history.
But no event
Or incident
Can help us to unravel
The clue that showed
Why someone sowed
A football pitch with gravel.

© Peter Goulding 4th May 2009

Notes

Finn Harps’ home fixture with Shelbourne was postponed after match referee Tommy Connolly deemed the Finn Park playing surface too dangerous.
Connolly conducted his pre-match pitch inspection in the company of his assistants Terence Moyne and Pat McLaughlin, and after mulling over the state of the pitch for 25 minutes, decided that ‘in the best interests of the safety of both sets of players it was not safe to play the game’.
In an attempt to dry out their muddy playing surface, in the fortnight between their last home game against Waterford United game and tonight’s visit of Shelbourne, Harps officials spiked 80 tonnes of sand into the pitch.
On his inspection, Connolly was unhappy with small gravel-type stones that were mixed into the sand, and after consulting with his assistants and making a call to the league authorities, postponed the game an hour before kick-off.
May the Lord have mercy on our souls.

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/of-football-pitches-and-gravel/