Football Poets

Lionesses find Dutch courage and Wales out.

¶ 1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 So it is that the Lionesses
Summon Dutch courage
Against the nation
That gave us tulips, canals
And bicycles
Don’t forget the Gouda cheese
It finally came right
When the Netherlands were there
For the taking
We knew the girls could do it
And that they did
It had to happen
After faltering against
The French Les Bleus
Too much nous and
Streetwise intelligence
For English ladies
Of upright posture
Breeding and refinement
But, suddenly, the girls
Find their time, place and
Moments in the warm shadow
Of Swiss mountains
4-0 to Sarina’s
Women of class and substance
Let the praise shower over
England in the baking heat
Of our Mediterranean summer
And how we welcomed its arrival
Hoping it’ll hang around
And then stay for the duration
Even though we know
That football was essentially
The autumn and winter playground
And summer was designed for the
Yellow and red ball
Of tennis and cricket revelry
But let’s hear a raucous roar
For the Lionesses of 2025
Total Dutch football
No longer the sum of their parts
But a disparate rabble of
Orange mayhem
Laura James opened up
The treasure chest
Then found a second wind
Another for her CV
Before Georgia Stanway
Notched up a hat-trick of goals
It almost seems too good to be true
But surely authenticity
Is what we always get with
England, dear Blighty
Never failing in her duty
Oh we must relate the
Icing on the cake
Four for England
On the night
But this can’t be golf
It’s Ella Toone
With a surname like that
She has to be from either
Newcastle or a simple melody
Well done our Ella
Brilliance trips off the tongue
Even your first name
Reminds us of
That legendary jazz singer
Who lit up the Second World War
What a night for the Lionesses
Netherlands never there
And finally our Welsh girls
Bow out against the French
Sad but brave
You did your country proud

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