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Refereeing Haikus

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 England’s Howard Webb
Slicing slantwise with his arm
As he blows for time.

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 Graham Poll winning
Well-earned fame in World Cups
(Not counting those cards)

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 Gigi Collina
His exorbitant eyes stare,
Welcome, o Mekon.

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 Clive Thomas from Wales
Pedalling backwards madly
A film in reverse

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 Pointing to the spot
In nineteen seventy four
Jack Taylor, our man

6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 Ken Aston, Head
And shoulders above the game
As the passions flared

7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 Old Sir Stanley Rous
Referee in a jacket
In more stately days

Notes

I’ve tried to include one referee from each era. Readers will be familiar with Howard Webb and Graham Poll. Pierluigi Collina was a popular and respected Italian referee from the 1990s. Clive Thomas famously blew for time as the ball was about to enter the Swedish net in 1978. Jack Taylor awarded two penalties (one in the first 5 minutes) in the 1974 Final between West Germany and Holland. Ken Aston had the unenviable job of refereeing the brawl between Italy and Chile in 1962; and Sir Stanley Rous, later Head of Fifa, officiated before the war wearing a blazer.

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/refereeing-haikus/