Rodborough Fields Mexico v England The Prince Albert Estadio Azteca Hard to imagine these places conjoined By anything other than a football match, But the cochineal beetle from Mexico Provided the dye for Stroud scarlet cloth, Once stretched out on tenterhooks In Rodborough Fields, As in that iconic painting. We too shall be on tenterhooks […]

My mate says he’s going to boycott the World Cup: He says he’s not going to watch any of the matches; I said you have to set your alarm clock then, Because sleeping through the night isn’t a boycott, That’s just sleeping – if you’re going to boycott, You have to get up in the […]

Tackle Soccer This Way -Duncan Edwards Was published on New Year’s Day 1958, A month or so before the Munich Air Crash, And seven or so weeks before Duncan’s death, After his agonising struggle against the odds. The following Christmas Day morning, I carefully unwrapped a parcel from Santa, It was Tackle Soccer This Way- […]

Start your journey at the Platform One Café, Coffee and croissants and Katie and Rick, 3 tables, 6 chairs, a trunk, 15 railway puzzles (Always one on the go for travellers with a brief encounter), Sundry model engines and railway memorabilia, A library, greetings cards, two clocks, A mannequin budgerigar in a toy cage, (A […]

I love Wednesday night’s walking football: The gathering dusk of late October: Floodlights lighting the way to goal, While a moon rises high in the sky, Illuminating childhood memories Of yesteryear’s Autumn Almanack: Playing marbles, conkers, knock-door-runaway, Or kicking a football under street lamps, Or collecting wood for the street bonfire, Always ceremonially lit, each […]