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Poems tagged ‘Manchester United’

Undaunting Support.

“Go on, get stuck in,
Don’t be scared, a the likes of him?
Yer twice the bleating size, a that nippy little runt?
Try n pass the bleating thing
Not backwards, over here on the wing
Strewth! Watching this, is proper giving me the hump?”
.

“Wisha, ain’t that widder woman, got some mouth?”,
Deccy whispered tentatively, he daren’t shout,
Fearful of a vitriolic volley being aimed at him,
“Stopper, centre-half? Couldn’t stop a draught
Oi Youse! Don’t let the little runt wriggle past,
Wassamatter wiv ya, lost yer bottle? Get stuck in”.

“Oi lady, lady, give that north and south a rest
Young fella’s, out there, are giving of their best”,
“Oh, and who the fluff might you be?”, Deccy heard her scoff
“Fella trains that team to enjoy having a kick about
Maybe try n cheer them on, if you’ve got to shout?”,
Deccy, didn’t catch her reply, though the sentence ended…off?

Fast forward…Craven Cottage, by The Thames,
This widder woman, yes that’s right, her again
Screaming like a banshee at her team to, “Get stuck in”,
Few other choice words reverberating ageing stands
Ensued a crowd of heard it all before old hands,
Perched in The Cottage, acquired a mischievous grin.

Fulham F.C, at the time, short of an old pound note
Finding their club, a proper struggle to keep afloat
Due to a shortage of cash, decide to blood a fledgling pro
Well, the dogs abuse from the start of play
Dished out on what should have been a proper blinding day?
Caused a seasoned ex-pro, in the dug-out, serious woe.

“Ask our kit-man to nip over and have a word
With that tongue a blazing mean looking bird”,
Tell her to zip it shut, or I’ll call a match-day cop?”,

The kit-man nervously saunters back
Ears ringing post a quite profound verbal attack,
“Sorry gaffer, only caught every other sentence, ending…off”.

Moving on…we’re at our usual rendezvous
Waiting on a mini-bus, for a soiree to Man Yoo
A joke, a smoke, a tepid tea, perched on a wall,
“Oi Declan, where are you lot, off to then?
Bit early ain’t it, for you, twenty-five to ten?
Geezer spends his day in bed, doing sweet fluff all?

“Hello missus, I resemble that last remark
Off to Old Trafford, on a jolly, maybe have a laugh?
There’s a spare seat, fancy a day with us on a mini bus?”,
“What? Go and watch Chelsea, are you sure?
Bleating pile of (put politely) old horse manure?
Rather be over at The Cottage, though times is tough”.

“Can’t tempt you to come savour real class?
On a pukka pitch, sporting lush green grass?
Instead of a field of mud, scarcely a sod atop?”,
Just then our mini-bus arrived…bang on time
On waving goodbye, I saw her discreetly mime,
Two fingers in the air, sentences ending…off.

Time rolled on as time tends to do
Though Deccy n me, didn’t sit in the same pew
Every so often after, the game, we’d arrange a meet
I’m listening to the scores one day indoors
The phone rings, an excited Deccy roar’s,
“Switch on the telly, quick, see them just won the league?”

There in the middle of a wildly exuberant shot
Dear reader I kid you not?
Stood a face I knew, but whose whereabouts I didn’t know?
The slated centre half, beside the widder woman, (his mum!)
Couldn’t control her rabid expletive ridden tongue?
On a council playing field, or Craven Cottage, years ago.

Those who crack on regardless, and succeed
To reap rewards, are deemed fortunate indeed
More so from a dodgy start, than a bestowed toff?
After all, isn’t there something admirable to savour?
About a fella being driven, albeit by a gobby mater?
Ain’t afraid of abruptly ending her sentences…off?

Peace.

Stay safe, come what may, and have a good day.

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League leaders held at Anfield

Liverpool 0-0 Man Utd

It’s just like the old days
When United led from the top
Cautious on the offensive
They played intending to stop

Liverpool on the other hand
Struggled with fluency
Looking just a little jaded
Are that killer front three

No goals for three games
Yet Alisson was the catch
Foiling United a few times
He’s my man of the match

17 01 21

number7
© emdad rahman

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Nobby Stiles 1942-2020

Nobby Stiles, he with the dance
Effortless, without a hitch
England, World Champions
He jjgged round the Wembley pitch

Combative and unassuming
Next to the great George Best
Was a wall too for Bobby
Denis Law and the rest

Switched to midfield by Busby
Noted by Sir Alf Ramsey
European cup winner bids goodbye
We bid farewell to Nobby

31 10 20

number7
© emdad rahman

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Harry Gregg ~ The Man Who Didn’t Just Save Goals

sometimes we judge our players
by the way that they behave
a striker for his scoring
and a keeper for his saves
we even tag some heroes
and one deserves that claim
a man who didn’t just save goals
Harry Gregg his name

the day is still etched in my mind
and I remember then
I cried aloud next morning
when I was only ten
and on that day we lost perhaps
the greatest football side
but Harry rescued those he could
we speak his name with pride

and just thirteen days later
so many team mates gone
he took the field again once more
determined to go on
and later in the Final
the first one that I saw
they bundled him into the net
as Bolton’s Lofthouse scored

sometimes we judge our players
by the way that they behave
a striker for his scoring
and a keeper for his saves
we often tag them heroes
and one deserve that claim
a man who didn’t just save goals
Harry Gregg his name

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The Day We Lost A Football Team ~ Remembered

if you were alive
child woman or man
you remember the day still
like yesterday
like Lennon like Kennedy
or the day we landed on the moon
the day we woke to realise
we’d lost a football team

that moment when everything
slowed to a moan
like singles when the power would go
or 78s on out of turn gramophones
the day we woke to realise
we’d lost a football team

so young then all life before me
and so in awe of maybe just maybe
the greatest team we ‘d ever spawned
and for so many of those we lost
their lives too so clearly just begun
but all that changed
all gone upon a runway to nowhere
the day we woke to realise
we’d lost a football team

the morning dawned
to find you
staring into your tea
not speaking at breakfast
gazing in disbelief
at grainy snowy shots
in muddled black and white
there upon the table
the day we woke to realise
we’d lost a football team

what point school today?
must I go mum?
we didn’t even support United
but united we all were then
when fate cast that shadow
one cold Munich afternoon
upon our game upon our world
I just remember how sick I felt inside
so sad so sad
the day we woke to realise
we’d lost a football team

watching the heartbreaks
on our new tv
loved ones parents friends
as bedside vigils unfolded before our eyes
Duncan Edwards Frank Swift
Tommy Taylor Roger Byrne 23 in all
the names go on.
where have they gone
where too those fifty years?

and on that day – as this
we think of them
as then as now
the way we felt
the helplessness
the day we woke to realise
we’d lost a football team

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“Of Course She Understands”

To say the atmosphere was fraught, watching Man U totally out-fought,
In the betting down Rye Lane yesterday
Would be…putting it politely, as t’was looking highly likely
The Blades would be more than worthy victors…come the close of play?

A group of African boys screamed and bawled, at the plasma on the wall
As Man U easily parted company with the ball
I thought fisticuffs was on the cards, as one or two played the charade,
”They should let me pick the team, I’d drop them all?”.

The braggadocio, finger pointing, and veiled threats got right annoying
As us interested nervous neutrals tried to watch the match
A chilled-out cheeky Jamaican called for calm, with more than a modicum of alarm,
Who seemed to hold a position of respect midst the gobby mass?

Suddenly…a quick one-two, then three, despair morphed in to glee
Studious punters dropped their betting slips aghast
A lauded knight on T.V beamed, as all around me screamed
At a comeback, up there with those of Francis Albert in our past.

Till…the door to victory slammed shut, caused fanatics do their nut,
“It’s going to VAR”, went up a hopeful shout,
“Hand-ball, they’ll disallow it”, “No they won’t, it hit his chest allow it”,
About twenty-five of us vociferously unified in…doubt.

At three all the final whistle blows, the game comes to a close
and just before deflated sombre souls take to the street,
“You boys shouting an a screaming, means my customers are leaving
If it happens again, they’ll be no more football shown next week”.

“But mam please”, pled a leaving man, “You don’t understand?”,
“Don’t be stupid, of course she understands, what planet are you from man?”,
She knows what its all about, she’s a Millwall fan”.

Peace

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Ray Wilkins 1956 – 2018

At the tender age of eighteen
Stamford Bridge he made his mark
The boy did ‘dangerously well’
A class act on and off the park

Deft touches and radar passes
Is how we’ll celebrate Ray
That lob and chip against Belgique
Elegant and masterful play

An FA Cup final curler
Ray rocked the mic at Wembley
He valued the small people
The cleaner, the fan, the trainee

Old Firm stunner for that Ibrox hero
Today he’d be England’s Pirlo
Leggenda Rossonera
Ciao Ray from the San Siro

number7
©emdad rahman

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The Day We Lost A Football Team

if you were alive child woman or man
you remember the day still
like yesterday like Lennon like Kennedy
or the day we landed on the moon
and I was only ten
I cried into my tea
the day we woke to realise
we’d lost a football team

that moment when everything
slowed to a moan
like singles when the power would go
or 78s on out of turn gramophones
the day we woke to realise
we’d lost a football team

so young then all life before me
and so in awe of maybe just maybe
the greatest team we ‘d ever spawned
and for so many of those we lost
their lives too so clearly just begun
but all that changed
all gone upon a runway to nowhere
the day we woke to realise
we’d lost a football team

the morning dawned
to find you
staring into your Weetabix
not speaking at breakfast
gazing in disbelief
at grainy snowy shots
in muddled black and white
there upon the table
the day we woke to realise
we’d lost a football team

what point school today?
must I go mum?
we didn’t even support United
but united we all were then
when fate cast that shadow
one cold Munich afternoon
upon our game upon our world
I just remember how sick I felt inside
so sad so sad
the day we woke to realise
we’d lost a football team

watching the heartbreaks
on our new tv
loved ones parents friends
as bedsid vigils unfolded before our eyes
Duncan Edwards Frank Swift
Tommy Taylor Roger Byrne.23 in all
the names go on..
where have they gone
where too those sixty years?
and on that day as this
we think of them
as then as now
the way we felt
the helplessness
the day we woke to realise
we’d lost a football team

© CTO8

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Source: https://footballpoets.org/news/poem-tags/manchester-united/page/2/