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The day European football came to Connemara

Peter Goulding

Monday, May 26th, 2014

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 In Carraroe, a threatening sky,
a dark October afternoon.
Communal pitch surrounded by
bare fields with random boulders strewn.
Terryland was deemed unfit
Pearse Stadium had been blocked since June.
The GAA were fit to spit –
it went down like a lead balloon.
Two thousand ringed the pitch to cheer
on Mannion’s maestros in maroon,
as Tony warned them not to fear –
a man from Galway granite hewn.
Groningen’s great star-filled team
thought they had landed on the moon
but three quick goals and Galway’s dream
exploded, sadly, all too soon.
Paul Murphy’s goal too, too late found
that giants could, indeed, be slewn
but still the tiny Gaeltacht ground
danced gaily to a merry tune.

© Peter Goulding 26 May 2014

Notes

1986 UEFA Cup Galways home ground was not up to UEFA standards so they played the match on a communal pitch in the wilds of Connemara. Groningen won 3 -1

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/the-day-european-football-came-to-connemara/