Poems by Alan McKean
- What, me ref?
- The man who kicks the ball
- I weep for football
- Team Sheet
- Georgie
- P45
- Hope
- Dropsy
- Rules
- Untitled
- Away goal
- And so it begins
- up for t’cup
- The Trench (haiku)
- Job done
- Heroes
- Chip paper
- Return
- Forget-me-not
- Surprise
- Per person per week
- Communion
- Kick off
- Half time
- Migration
- Wiggin
- Th’owd Mon
- Ah well
- Short term memory
- Gift of the Gub
- Millions
- 31st January
- Kickabout
- Setting Sun
- Game haiku 10
- game haiku 11
- game haiku 14
- Bragging rights
- England expects
- 3 Stooges
- The Yellow Card Song
- Pavane
- Strong man
- Homeward bound
- Haiku haiku
- Gooooooaaaaallllllll
- Goooaalll 2
- Whew
- Isla’s dream
- My first kit
- 2 Goals for Fabrice
- Bermuda Triangle
- Meet me at the turnstile
- Contract
- By pass
- Cliche
- Finally
- Speedy
- Know All
- Wantaway Tevez Tanka
- Parting Gift
- Roller Coaster
- Hope
- Mike Doyle
- Our Game (haiku format)
- Blow the whistle Mr Webb
- Empty Tracksuit
- Transfer Window
- Sleeping Lion
- Happy Wanderer
- Squeaky Bum Tanka
- Wantaway
- Mr Allison
- Running the line
- Top of The Tower
- Question (haiku)
- Viva Espagne (haiku)
- Leaving on a jet plane (tanka)
- Who’d be a goalie?
- Half Time Tanka
- It was 44 years ago – move on
- Happy Birthday Football Poets
- Golden Mile (quick haiku)
- Kev’s Tanka
- Relegation Blues
- We dared to dream
- Match Report
- Surprise Tanka
- Icon
- False Dawn
- We dare to dream
- Empty seat
- Hard day at the office
- Pratfall (quick tanka)
- Thug
- Gentleman
- Turf Moor Tanka
- Relegation Blues
- Don’t kiss the badge
- Pennine Heartache
- The obscenity of numbers
- Respect (quick tanka)
- Boxing Day game (Tune – God rest ye )
- Aliens at The Reebok
- Warm Glow
- Tigers
- Art Deco
- Tomorrows Millionaires
- On a field of green
- In the trenches
- Yob
- Coin
- Thin Ice at the Reebok
- Eastern Promise
- Lemons at half time
- Pavane (Season’s end)
- Rochdale
- Where the hell are you?
- Farce in the rain
- Saviour
- 6258
- The man in the middle
- Manager
- Downfall
- Television
- Autumn Leaf
- Goal
- Battered, bruised and Bolton
- Bolton – up and running
- Wee boy
- Result
- The boys are back
- Untitled
- Evolution
- Alan Ball tanka
- Bolton v Reading, April 07
- Cup 07
- Red Tide
- A Good Game (but it failed to break out)
- McClaren’s Tanka
- So that’s the cup then.
- January Sales
- Lonely Road
- Dollar Bill (Senryu)
- Curse (Revision)
- Battered and bruised
- Aliens
- Hero
- Envelope (a quick haiku)
- Heart and Soul
- Crewe V Huddersfield 2/9/06
- 2:59
- Accy’s Back
- John Willie, Referee
- New Season
- Diving Board
- The Look (Haiku)
- I don’t care about Rooney’s foot
- World Cup – Preliminary Round
- Rooney’s Foot
- Middlesborough Farewell
- Joust
- Knife Edge
- Accrington Stanley
- Play Offs
- The Dein Supremacy
- Knife Edge
- Elephant Tanka
- Division 2
- Oscar
- Derby Game
- Broken dream
- Bottom
- Riddle
- National Coach
- In the stands
- Out
- 8.8.3
- Upside down cake
- Our cat for England
- Called Off
- The Ballad of Billy No Mates
- Responsive thanks
- Fizz in Heaven
- Wall of Sound
- Wizard of the worldly game
- On the Road
- Magician
- Reputations
- Canvas
- Dances with Dolphins
- Muddy Shoes
- Turkish Delight
- Wigan Wonderland
- Everton’s European Holiday
- Continuing Dream
- Final Whistle
- Premier Dust
- First Steps
- Lattice
- Rooney
- Generations
- Annie’s Tanka 695
- Manager’s Bingo
- Not Alone
- Pick me Sir
- Newcomers (Revised)
- Magic Carpet
- Egos in Boots
- Before the Storm
- Wee Gordie
- Regi in Asiam
- New Friends
- Sam Squared
- Manx Holiday
- Gossip
- Pre Season
- Team Colours
- Change of mind
- Greed
- I Believe
- Remaining Constant
- Legend
- Needs
- One Small Day
- Phil Brown
- List
- Dying to go to the match
- Spitting Distance
- Manchester Steel
- Jumping the gun
- United Nations – Bolton Branch (Le pie and le pint)
- Bill Reece, where are you now?
- Fallen Angel
- Triple Glazing Tanka
- The Power of Three
- Early Retirement
- Gettin Caught
- Win
- Glittering Prize
- Help Me
- Payrise
- 56 Seconds
- Nobody was watching the cricket anyway
- Echoes
- May
- After the dust
- Cull
- Foreign Parts
- Seven Tears
- Relegation Blues
- Innocents Abroad ?
- Liverpool v Juventus
- Adoptive Poetry
- Edgeley Whisper
- Doctor Football
- Seconds out – Round 1
- Death of a Goalkeeper
- The Bolton Wanderers European Lovesick Blues
- Distinction
- Tanka lot Diouf
- It’s easy from the stands
- Dilemma
- C’mon Ref
- Cup of Blues
- Stevie Gerrard
- Cruz Control
- Thunder in the Hills
- Earning Respect
- Don’t Let Him Near a Microphone
- Team Mate
- I’m Still Here
- The Bolton Wanderers Turned Corner Haiku Shuffle
- B-ang
- A Cold night in January
- Valley of the Damned
- Next Year
- Bolton v Arsenal 15/1/05
- We Beat Arsenal
- Liverpool v Man U 15/1/05
- Football
- FAC3
- Christmas 2004
- Called Off
- Fans
- Double edged sword
- Jigsaw
- Beach Football
- Half Way
- 13th Bolton Volunteer Freefall Parachute Display Team
- Help! – a pre-Christmas plea
- T’Pool in Europe
- The Boxing Day Game
- Donkeys in a Stable
- Superwhites
- United Colours of Football
- Bolton and Villa 13/11/04
- Giggles in Heaven
- Cash Flow
- United City
- Big John
- End
- Burnley v Derby 22/10/04
- Mr Eight
- The Foot Soldiers
- Red²
- A Star is born
- Son of The Mersey
- Can I have my money back?
- Blank Canvas
- What, Me Ref?
- Floodlight
- Stumble?
- The Academy
- Time Added
- Cup Cynic
- Man United v Lyon 15/9/04
- The ‘Pool and Monaco 15/4/04
- Shirt
- Beslan 2
- Telephone Numbers
- Bobby Robson
- Nothing Personal
- Liverpool 29th August 2004
- Pavane
- United Nations
- Swallowed a Wasp
- Office Sweep
- Hillsborough Roses
- First Game
- Charlton 14/8/04
- Reebok Dream
- Ranieri
- VFM
- Return of the King
- Boundary Park – Early 1970’s
- Football Mum
- But I scored dad
- Payment by Results
- Contrition
- Allow me my dream
- Badge
- True Supporter
- Tea Lady
- Just kick the bloody thing
- The Red Rec
- Long Ago
- Lift and Shift
- Tickets
- Twin Strikers
- Maine Road – Late 1950’s
- Charlton – The opening Game
- Pre Season
- The Groundsman
- Spelling Test
- All Change
- Summer Football
- Mr Lofthouse
- Game
- What do they do in SUmmer
- Theatre of Dreams?
- The Beautiful Game
- Goal
- End of Season
About This Site
Welcome to Football Poets -- a club for all football poets, lovers of football and lovers of (alternative) poetry. Discover poets in every league from respected internationals at the top of their game to young hopefuls in the school playground.
Publish your football poems here and then discuss them with your team mates and fans. We're archived by The British Library, so your masterpieces are in the safe hands of a world-class keeper. What a result!
My Account
Latest Poems
Clik The Mouse
24th June 2022
Alex Saynor
21st June 2022
joe morris
18th June 2022
Sharon Jones
16th June 2022
Greg Freeman
15th June 2022
joe morris
14th June 2022
joe morris
12th June 2022
Denys E. W. Jones
12th June 2022
joe morris
6th June 2022
Crispin’s Corner
In Memoriam
Kick It Out & Christmas Truce
Latest Comments
24th June 2022 at 3:05 pm
A simple pleasure.
And crafted beautifully.
See in context
27th April 2022 at 10:01 pm
Many thanks for featuring my poem. It’s been one hell of a journey but for all the bad times I’m still here supporting my home town club. Play Up Sky Blues !
See in context
27th March 2022 at 11:36 am
Re: first verse of ‘My dad’ by Joe Morris..
Great words Joe…Moving.
It also reminds me, of all the people that I’ve been with in my life that just didn’t get football at all, full stop. So basically you never mentioned it, unless you enjoyed dumbfounded stares or extensive yawns! .
People who I talked with at length , often on their level, about loads of other stuff we both loved and like you basically everything but football!
This coincdentally included my strange dad : David Thomas : a brillant bohemian beatnik CND and Peace loving artist. He was someone who, being a very young writer and artist myself , with whom I could have had and shared so much stuff in common, but who I only finally met when I was 15.
As a result, and with the over-riding presence at atmosphere of his new partner and new step-son, I only actually got to see him intermittently very briefly for around 20 years, before he passed on..
Your poem also reminds me of John Lennon’s words from the song ‘Julia’:
Half of what i say is meaningless,
but i say it just to reach you..”
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26th March 2022 at 7:04 pm
Haha, thanks Crispin, I hope you can at least see your pie well enough to eat it!
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26th March 2022 at 6:58 pm
Great imagery Joe …but I struggeled to read it in the fog at first…
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24th March 2022 at 9:28 pm
Looks like FGR are going up as champs Crispin ? A season is the proverbial rollercoaster ride, up and down and twists and turns. As Greavsie said ” It’s a funny old game. ” We love it though. ⚽️
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24th March 2022 at 9:12 pm
Tell me about it Kev…!!!!!
Great emotion …just how we’re feeling here in leafy Glos!
best C
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22nd March 2022 at 10:18 am
…Fan is short for fanatic.
Empires fall. Football’s
nowhere near
as important
as life and death…..
Great words Greg..keep on …best… C
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28th February 2022 at 9:10 am
‘Roman holiday’ … good line, Joe. As a Chelsea fan, I can’t get my thoughts together on all this yet. I suppose it would be nice to write something before the Big One drops
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18th January 2022 at 9:21 am
“Are you – and this is the most important –
wearing your lucky pants?”
(from ‘Reasons Why You Lost’ by Joe Williams)
ALWAYS JOE!
But when it’s cold like tonight at FGR v Mansfield its the Lucky Long Johns..
Rave on Lucky Pants.
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