from:- “The Goals of Bingo Boot” And all the while in streets and parks On pitches large or small Without a proper pair of boots Sometimes without a ball! With tin cans in the clattering yard In weather cold or hot Young Bingo shimmied left and right And scored with every shot . His poor […]
from ” The Goals of Bingo Boot” In nineteen hundred and twenty-two A little boy was born His baby cot was second hand His baby shawl was torn He had no teeth or teddy bear His hair was incomplete But he was the possessor of The most amazing feet. . When Bingo Boot was two […]
The fans in the stand are silent You could hear the fall of a pin For the fabulous game just ended And the tale that’s about to begin. . From “The Goals of Billy Boot” by Allan Ahlberg (1937 – ) Saturday 3rd December 2016 Ryman Isthmian League Division 1 North Brightlingsea Regent 3 […]
In honour of my first visit to Larkhall Athletic, and in remembrance of fallen soldiers from The Great War, I re-produce this poem was which part of the official programme for their match against AFC Totton (see below). The Lark From Wrath-red dawn to wrath-red dawn The guns have brayed without abate; And now the […]
The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee (From “The Destruction of Sennacherib” by Lord Byron 1815) Monday 3rd October 2016 […]
Lined up then in such formations Careless of life’s complications Deaf to birdsong, blind to flowers Prepared to chase the ball for hours, . A swarm of boys who heart and soul Must make a beeline for the goal. A kind of ordered anarchy (There was, of course, no referee). . They ran and shouted, […]
Each team would somehow pick itself No boys were left upon the shelf No substitution sulks or shame If you showed up you got a game. . Not 2-3-5 or 4-2-4 But 2-8-12 or even more Six centre forwards, five right wings Was just the normal run of things. . by Allan Ahlberg (1937 – […]
Picture this, you’re gazing down Upon that smoky factory town. Weaves of streets spread out, converge And from the houses boys emerge. . Specks of Boys, a broad selection Heading off in one direction Pulled by some magnetic itch Up to the park, onto the pitch. . Boys in boots and boys in wellies Skinny […]
Around the fringes of the match Spectators to this hectic patch Younger sisters, older brothers Tied-up dogs and irate mothers . A mother came to claim her twins (Required to play those violins) A little sister, Annabelle Bribed with a lolly not to tell . Dogs named Rover, Rex or Roy Each watching one particular […]
They ran and shouted, ran and shot (At shooting they were not so hot) Pulled a sock up, rolled a sleeve And scored more goals than you’d believe . Slid and tackled, leapt and fell Dodged and dribbled, dived as well Headed, shouldered, elbowed, kneed And, half-time in the bushes peed. . With muddy shorts […]
