Football Poets

Billy Bonds – we’ll always miss you

And so the East End is in deep mourning
Bonzo, we thought you were indestructible
But then today you met your heavenly fate
Gone but never forgotten
Billy Bonds, what can we say?
Here, there and everywhere
Ubiquitous as the man who never
Stood still
Spreading his defensive genius
To all around
Verbally and vocally
In so many football postcodes
A one man human fortress
Natural athlete
Shoulders like boulders
Strong and unforgiving
Always up for the battle
Fighting legally to
The bitter end
Never satisfied unless
The last reservoir of
Sweat and exertion
Had been wiped from
A bandana head at times
Mountainous strength
Lifting the FA Cup twice
For the claret and blue
Fulham 75 and Arsenal 80
Bristly beard bristling
With heart and soul
Indefatigable, shouting,
Gesturing with noble advice
Running several marathons
In 90 minutes,
Crunching into tackles like
A man overcome with a
Missionary zeal
The Caped Crusader
Hurling and hurtling into
The opposition
As if his life depended on it
Club captain par excellence
Angrily pointing his
Happy Hammers
In the right direction
With rousing reprimands
Come on Sir Trev, Geoff Pike
And Alan Devonshire
Time to roll up your sleeves
An old school centre half
Hard but fair
Irate but totally focussed
With righteous indignation
Driving forward
Like the sleekest of cars
Engine always purring
In the right time and place
Unfailing verve and
Vim and vitality
Endless energy
Superhuman and
Dynamic dynamo
Scoring supremely
And most aptly
If only when the occasion
Warranted a Bonds goal
From the Addicks to the Hammers
When the Beatles were
In their best form
Whether with the
Footballing royalty
Of Bobby Moore or
Alvin Martin
Bonzo roared
Over and over again
How they might have
Relished his presence
When going over the top
And scrambling desperately
Over wartime trenches
Billy would never let us down
Billy Bonds, Billy Bonds
Billy Bonds

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