Football Poets

The Circle of Life

¶ 1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 Once upon a time we hated Rovers,
At Milltown they were very hard to beat,
Results up there invariably drove us
Moaning into Humphrey’s down the street.

¶ 2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 Christ, we hated Eccles, King and Keely,
Each as dirty as a baby’s nose.
Their nasty little strong-arm tactics really
Kept our battered forwards on their toes.

¶ 3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 The Green and Whites swept everything before them,
While we at Harolds Cross won bugger all.
We hated them but never could ignore them
Despite their gross indifference to the ball.

¶ 4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 Their arrogance was often quite appalling,
Their fans took every league and cup for granted,
For fans of other clubs, it was quite galling
To see the way the football odds were slanted.

¶ 5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 Then one day, little Louis got a notion,
The dollar signs came down before his eyes,
His scheme might cause a bit of a commotion,
But think of all the money as a prize.

¶ 6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 The Milltown gates were firmly locked and tethered,
And very soon the pitch was overgrown,
Until it was completely gorsed and heathered,
So silent and despondent and alone.

¶ 7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 The supporters couldn’t come up with an answer,
And couldn’t raise the necessary fees,
And so the little bollix of a chancer
Sent in the diggers and the JCBs.

¶ 8 Leave a comment on verse 8 0 Then something happened that was quite astounding
Something we could never have foreseen,
Something that was really so confounding –
Sympathy for those in white and green.

¶ 9 Leave a comment on verse 9 0 And so the Rovers hordes were forced to wander
Like the Wand’ring Jew in days of yore,
Santry, Tolka, even over yonder
In the foul enclaves of Inchicore.

¶ 10 Leave a comment on verse 10 0 And, as they lost their home, they lost their numbers,
And very quickly lost all their success
But, like a sleeping giant in his slumbers,
Their dreams were so much harder to repress.

¶ 11 Leave a comment on verse 11 0 And all the hate that I once felt inside me,
Has mellowed very greatly down the years.
And though my fellow Shelbourne fans might chide me,
There is no malice in my caustic jeers.

¶ 12 Leave a comment on verse 12 0 However, there’s a cloud on the horizon,
The Wandering Hoops have finally found a home,
The fact it took so long is quite surprisin’,
But soon it seems they’ll have no need to roam.

¶ 13 Leave a comment on verse 13 0 And when they’re at their stadium’s unveiling,
When finally they get a fixed address,
I reckon they will start again regaling
The rest of us with tales of boastfulness.

¶ 14 Leave a comment on verse 14 0 And then the circle will become completed,
And nothing we can do will e’er sedate them,
And history again will be repeated,
And once again we’ll passionately hate them.

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