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Thomas Hardy and football

joe morris

Thursday, June 2nd, 2022

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 Now Thomas Hardy
182 today. Hard to believe
Somehow. Time flies
But England’s finest lyricist
Or word painter, consummate
Novelist, literary genius
You wonder which football
Ground, Dorset lad
Giving rise to suggestions
Of Hampshire
Pompey or Portsmouth
Naval connections
Once of Premier League
Heights, rubbing shoulders
With Manchester City,
But Portsmouth scarf around
His celebrated literary neck
Perhaps on first name terms
With Pep Guardiola
Or Jimmy Dickinson,
Once a Pompey giant
Or maybe Hardy was a hardened
Cherries fan,
Red and black Bournemouth
Allegiances, a regular at Dean
Court or latterly the Vitality
Stadium, shaking the foundations
Of this slumbering corner of this
Dorset beauty spot, Wessex in
His blood.
Or perhaps Hardy was a Saint
Of the Southampton parish
Where once Kevin Keegan,
Mike Channon, Phil Bowyer
And Alan Ball plied their trade
At the cosy, snug Dell
Where goals rained down from
All points of the Hampshire compass
So Happy Birthday Thomas Hardy
Come on Pompey, the Saints and the
Cherries
Your cherished heroes
From terraces from far and wide
Hardy’s poster boys
Your idols from long ago
Happy Birthday Thomas
You’ll support them for
Ever more.

Notes

This is my fond homage to my literary hero Thomas Hardy and the team he might have supported.

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Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/thomas-hardy-and-football/