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TO HELL OR TO ORIENT

John J O’Connor

Sunday, September 4th, 2005

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 T’was way back in the day,
many full moons ago,
Crystal Palace,
had their own knacker-yard,
to send players who’d slowed,
no longer glowed,
and who were finding Division One hard.

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 It was over in grimy East London,
on the no-go at night Brisbane Road,
and for many a player,
who was worse for wear,
it became their playing abode.

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 TO HELL OR TO ORIENT !!!!
would cry old Bert Head,
in his best dictatorial voice,
and the player would know,
it was his time to go,
and in the matter,
he had little choice.
See George Petchey had left Crystal Palace,
where he’d been the side kick to Bert Head,
and he took over the reins,
of the Orient team,
the East Enders who played in the red.
So the O’s got the likes of Phil Hoadley,
Lazarus —- Roffey and Sewell,
the East Londoners rose,
with all those old pro’s,
George Petchey was nobodies fool.

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 Even fan favourites were auctioned,
to oil up the Orient machine,
John Jackson, Whittle and Possee,
David Payne and the great Gerry Queen.
Yes the mid-Seventies were horrid for Palace,
life in the Third just wasn’t much fun,
but when Orient needed spares,
we flogged them our players,
and they nearly ended up,
going up to One.

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 But most Palace fans were quite happy,
to see Leyton Orient do well,
they were proud of the men,
who’d transferred to East 10,
a post code just better than hell.
So thank you all those long gone players,
who gave South and East London fans much pleasure,
and as the adage goes,
and it genuinely shows,
one teams trash,
is another ones treasure.

© John J O’Connor Sept 5 2005

Notes

During the early 70’s when Palace were in the top division and Orient were languishing near the bottom of the Third. some cynics referred to the O’s as Crystal Palace Reserves. A few years later fortune had changed. Palace were in the Third and Orient, with a team almost entirely made up of ex Palace players were knocking on the door of the old First Division.

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/to-hell-or-to-orient/