Football Poets

Pride in the Rowley Heart of Grandad

¶ 1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 It was always said in the family,
Aye, it was always said,
that Grandad George Rowley
could’ve played for Wolves,
Nan wouldn’t let him,
and Uncle Ben proved,
he had to have his cartilage removed!
As long as I can recall,
instead of professional football,
often this youngster did hear,
Grandad worked at Goodyear.
Whatever the decision,
the 1926/7 season
Wolves were in the Football League Second Division,
average age for a player was 26.3,
Grandad would only be twenty,
did he have to wait and see?
By the time he’d reached that average age,
Jane Williams he had married, living in Bell Place,
by then the race to be a pro was over and done,
I suppose the only football he played was then for fun,
about the weekly wage, was it really worth it?
Aye, from football you can’t steal the joys,
in 1934 he was playing for Dudley Road Old Boys,
where he grew up in Cartwright Street nearby,
I get the feeling that his love for playing
never ever ran dry, here’s why!
It was always said in the family,
Aye, it was always said,
that Grandad George Rowley
coached his relations Jack and Arthur Rowley,
and good careers they had, there must’ve been pride
in the Rowley heart of Grandad.
(Instead of cousins, I think they were nephews!)
He was quietly spoken I thought,
he taught me things without speaking,
even when being in the same room as him
he was silently teaching.
Aye, teaching, was this admirable man
that I’d never insult or annoy,
wonderful, was this elderly Dudley Road Old Boy!
It was always said in the family,
Aye, it was always said…
but I didn’t hear it from Grandad,
I heard from others instead!

¶ 2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 © Robbie Kennedy Bennett
17/12/2025
Scottish Wulfrunian
RKB poetry since 1989

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