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Who Was Roy The Legend at 60 ? A new look.

Crispin Thomas

Tuesday, September 9th, 2014

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 OK -before you ask the legend’s name
here’s a clue – it’s not Hodgson !

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 But if you ask me now
a so-tagged ‘football poet/editor’
and lover of the game
to name my all time hero
there is no contest.

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 Think now and ponder this.
Who was it gripped me through my childhood
those formulative frantic football years week on week –
leaving me hanging by my fingertips on a cliff
like some black and white
Saturday Morning Pictures episode of Flash Gordon ?

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 Was it the impact he made when I was barely six
and he first appeared
through my letter box in Tiger
on that magical September day in 1954 ?
Yes it was a powerful and deeply emotional
life-changing moment …but it wasn’t that.
NO

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 So who was it and what was it then?

6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 Was it because he scored 501 goals
in 436 appearances for his club?
NO.

7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 Was it because he led and inspired Melchester Rovers
to win: 10 league titles, 10 FA Cups, 2 Charity Shields,
4 Europen Cups, 4 EUFA Cup Winners Cups , 2 Eufa Cups
and a partridge in a pear tree, if you were lucky?
NO

8 Leave a comment on verse 8 0 Was it those countless international caps for England –
despite always ironically (some say suspiciously)
always getting injured just before every actual ‘real’ World Cup? Spooky indeed but..
NO.

9 Leave a comment on verse 9 0 Or was it because he was the only player ever
to score a hat-trick and then go in goal
and save a last minute penalty
in a Cup Final at Wembley? Sorry…
NO.

10 Leave a comment on verse 10 0 Perhaps it was because he got mysteriously ambushed
and kidnapped by Mexican rebels on a pre-season tour
but still managed to get back in time for the match? Again…
NO.

11 Leave a comment on verse 11 0 It could have been when he survived
an assassination attempt on his life in 1981…
and an earthquake at Mel Park (Melchester Rovers ground) ..
or even when 8 Melchester players were killed
by fictitious terrorist activity
in the non-existent Middle-East state of Basran. ..
NO not even that.

12 Leave a comment on verse 12 0 Could it have been that terrible day
his career was cruelly cut short
after losing a foot in a disastrous helicopter crash ?
NO.

13 Leave a comment on verse 13 0 No …it was the undisputed fact
that he played for 51 years
(which would have made him about 70-something.).
but never ever got any older
and always kept the same lovely blond hair.

14 Leave a comment on verse 14 0 Yes, yes yes ….
it was those golden locks that debonair charm
that never changed (except in hairstyle slightly)
that make him my all time hero.

15 Leave a comment on verse 15 0 No contest…. Roy of the Rovers .

16 Leave a comment on verse 16 0 Roy Race ..legend

© CT14

Notes

For Roy Race~Roy of The Rovers. Still alive somewhere?
In my mind anyway.

In celebration of the 60th anniversary on Sept 11 2014 of the first publication of Roy Of The Rovers in the Tiger comic.

Editor Note (ok it’s me too!) I’ll be posting some great classic Roy images on our Football Poets on Facebook page…
and performing this and my other ‘Waiting For Roy’ ode live at Coventry Central Library on Oct 4th to tie in with National Poetry Day (Theme this yea : r’Remember’) . Seeya there kev halls …….
.hopefully?

Also see the Guardian article for more info on Roy
60 Years of Roy Of The Rovers

You can also check out the dates, goals and facts on one of many Wikipedia pages on the man .The only thing missing is his date of birth?????

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/who-was-roy-the-legend-at-60-a-new-look/