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“Shirt Off Your Back”

Dulwich Poet

Wednesday, April 16th, 2014

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 They say football’s run by cowboys
I might not always agree
But ninety odd quid
For a new England shirt
Is really taking the pee!
Back in the so-called ‘Bad Old Days’
To follow your country meant you were a thug
Fast forward to twenty fourteen
You’re just a more money-than-sense mug.
Manufactured atmosphere at matches
Brass bands blasting in your ear
Needing to take out a mortgage
For a half-time pie and a beer.
Being told to sit down
In your sanatised over-priced seat
Expected to join in the Mexican Wave
When you’re allowed onto your feet.
The old Wembley was a dump
And we were ripped off back then too
But at least it was proper football fans
Not corporates out on a do!
Come the World Cup this summer
I won’t be wearing
A top that costs almost a ton
When I can buy a wardrobe full of gear
For the price of an official one.
Rye Lane, Peckham’s where I’ll be
For moody shirts, tops galore
Spending my hard-earned in Primark
Gentleman’s outfitters to the poor.

Notes

(A few weeks ago the Football Association announced that the new England shirt, on sale for the World Cup finals in the summer, will cost £90…)

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/shirt-off-your-back/