Football Poets

The First Time I saw the Shots play

¶ 1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 The first time I went and saw the Shots play
Is burnt in my mind to this very day
I was only young and all that I knew
Is that the other side was a team called Crewe

¶ 2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 My lack of knowledge should be forgiven
I was only eight in ‘67
It was “Summer of Love” and “Sgt Pepper”
But my life was about to change forever

¶ 3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 So off I went with Mick and Janet
Met at the Rec by Basil and Alec
With a big rosette and rattle in hand
We made our way up to the North Stand

¶ 4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 My dear old Nan had knitted a scarf
But when we saw it, we had to laugh
She had run out of wool, so instead
She used maroon in place of red!

¶ 5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 Sat on long benches and oh, what a scene
The pitch so big, so warm and so green
The air was filled with wonder and cheer
I knew at that moment that I belonged right here

¶ 6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 Radio Shots would welcome the throng
The Good, Bad and Ugly was their favourite song
The East Bank was packed and a thousand faces
Squeezed all together to fill up the spaces

¶ 7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 In my eager hands the programme I clutch
But the names inside didn’t mean that much
Mick said “Son, let me give you a guide
Of all the good players we have in our side”

¶ 8 Leave a comment on verse 8 0 “Our player up front will be wearing the nine
He can score with a header from the half way line
He’s brave as a lion in leading the attack
He’s the giant known as our Big Jack”

¶ 9 Leave a comment on verse 9 0 “Peter Gowans will show a turn of flair
With a mazy dribble and longish hair
I’m sure that you’ll be very impressed
We think of him as our own George Best”

¶ 10 Leave a comment on verse 10 0 “Len Walker is like the rock of Gibraltar
Tony Godfrey in goal will never falter
Priscott, Kearns, Walton, all good players too
We have a nice little side in the Red and Blue”

¶ 11 Leave a comment on verse 11 0 But my favourite player was our number four
He seemed to be better than Bobby Moore
He appeared to totally run the game
Tommy McAnearney was his name

¶ 12 Leave a comment on verse 12 0 All boys need heroes and he was mine
I will always remember that moment in time
I looked on him with wonder and awe
On my own football shirt I got sewn a four

¶ 13 Leave a comment on verse 13 0 The game was soon over and Aldershot won
My passion for the Shots had just begun
Home on the bus, the top deck we rode
Stopping for chips at Peabody Road

¶ 14 Leave a comment on verse 14 0 As I look back I often lament
Thinking about where all those years went
It’s been four decades, a lifetime ago
Where did that excited young supporter go?

¶ 15 Leave a comment on verse 15 0 But today things happen when Aldershot score
That little boy comes out to play once more
The joy and happiness brings him alive
By watching the Shots, he will always survive

¶ 16 Leave a comment on verse 16 0 Little boys grow up and soon are Dads
Going to the games with their own young lads
Alec and Basil are long since gone
But the story of Aldershot forever goes on.

¶ 17 Leave a comment on verse 17 0 For now we walk in the footsteps of those
That went before us and I suppose
They all look down and chant along
When the East Bank breaks out into song

¶ 18 Leave a comment on verse 18 0 Now it is Sillsy where it was Big Jack
Now it is Watto where it was Tommy Mac
They are the heroes to the new generation
To follow, admire and be their inspiration

¶ 19 Leave a comment on verse 19 0 I wonder that if, in forty years time
The new Poet Shot will compose a Rhyme
About the first time she visited the ground
And tell of the legend of one “Terry Brown”

¶ 20 Leave a comment on verse 20 0 I still wear that scarf to this very day
And when I look at it, it seems to say
“That from the truth, you might try and hide
But we’re all still little boys on the inside”

¶ 21 Leave a comment on verse 21 0 Dedicated to Janet