Go fourth

[Biggus]

GO FOURTH

Who will finish fourth?
Will it be Liverpool?
Who stake their claim?
Or will Aston Villa rule
Who will stand tall?
Will it be Man City?
That win the prize
Or will Spurs be sitting pretty
Who will go forth?
Into the Champions League
To dine at the top table
Who of these wannabes

Liverpool were last the champions
More than 20 years ago
Aston villa weren’t crowned
For 30 years or so
Its more than 40 years
Since Man City won
And Spurs were last the winners
In 1961

But the Champion’s League beckons
For these wannabes
These trophy less also ran’s
How can that be?

ALL IN THE GAME

Shaven headed barbarians
And tattooed savages
Strut with preening peacocks
In performing their pantomime
While their vengeful tribes
With banners held high
Chant their rhythmic cacophony
Faces distorted with hate

On the field of honour
They grapple and kick
They push and pull
They dive and roll
Assault and assail
Connive and cheat

In unforgiving onslaughts
They perform for baying hordes
A vile and brutal spectacle
Always referred to
As the beautiful game

MUMMY’S BOYS

I long since came to terms
Since John Barnes set the trend
With footballers wearing gloves
To keep their little pandies warm
I am less understanding
Of players taking to the field
With tights beneath their shorts
But it seems I must accept it
But the line has to be drawn somewhere
And that line was crossed
This very weekend
I was shocked beyond belief
To see a player take to the field of play
Wearing a muffler about his neck

FOOTBALL

There are many differences
Between Rugby and football
Rules, number of players, ball shape
Goal posts, pitch markings, duration
And so on and so forth
It was once said that football
Is a gentleman’s game played by ruffians
And Rugby a ruffians game played by gentleman
Not quite as true as it used to be
But still not far off the mark
I’ve even heard it said
That Football is played by children
And Rugby by grownups
But for me the difference
Can best be defined in this way
A Footballer spends 90 minutes
Pretending to be injured
While a Rugby player spends 80 minutes
Pretending that he is not

BLATTER’S FOLLY

Everyone wants a video ref in the game
There are no dissenting voices I can name
Fans shout their support and managers want it
Players are in favour and even the refs want it
Because it is a change that really matters
Everybody want its except Mr Blatter

UEFA CHAMPIONS GREED

I hate the Champion’s League
On so many levels
I hate it because it’s a competition
Devised by money grubbing devils

I hate it because you have to enter it
Because that is where the money is found
Money to lure the pampered prima donnas
To your particular ground

I hate it because it is seeded
So the best teams are always on view
So that UEFA can optimise
Their television revenue

I hate it because it doesn’t seem to know
What it really wants to be
Is it a knock out competition?
Or the beginnings of the super league

But I hate it most of all
Above all other considerations
Because the European Champions League
Has so few actual champions

Post Script

Well all the above is true
But I regret the overriding reason
That I hate it so passionately is that
We have been knocked out this season

THE NATURAL

As a footballer I must confess
My skills locker is somewhat bereft
I am a naturally two footed player
But unfortunately both of them are left

[hillwalker]

An amusing topic for a poem (particularly as I am a Spurs fan!).
I wonder perhaps whether it would read better without the statistical analysis in the second verse - and you might consider trying to condense the material covered in the first and final stanzas into a tighter, single verse poem.

There's the framework of a witty little piece here. The rhyme does tend to over-control the flow of your ideas in certain lines - whilst in others it is absent. Perhaps you should consider discarding rhyme totally and concentrating on the rhythm first. I always find writing poetry that rhymes a much greater challenge which is why I use rhyme with caution.

Hope you don't take my comments as criticism - they are well-meant.

Good luck.

[Biggus]

Thanks - I hope Spurs get 4th spot, they could even get 3rd. I'm a Man U fan so I hope they can do it without beating us

[hillwalker]

Yes, I've also got my calculator working and have realised that we can even climb above the dreaded Gooners. I'm just pleased to see Senor Benitez has finally been found out for the charlatan he is.

Anyway, bak to poetry.....

I've just seen your edits - you obviously have a talent for more contemporary poetry - and an amusing turn of phrase.

Love your last little put-down about your two left feet.

Keep it up

(A draw - the best I can honestly hope for on Saturday - would probably benefit us more than you - but who can tell this season???)

[Hawkman]

A very amusing mixture of poems and epigrams. As always a good crop, Biggus. I particularly liked your definition of Rugby and football. But be cautious, comrade - Rugby has Laws, not rules! - H

[PrinceMyshkin]

Marvelous - with this one quibble:


UEFA CHAMPIONS GREED

I hate the Champion’s League
On so many levels
I hate it because it’s a competition
Devised by money grubbing devils

I hate it because you have to enter it
Because that is where the money is found
Money to lure the pampered prima donnas
To your particular ground

I hate it because it is ceded...

"ceded" was surely meant to be seeded?

[Biggus]

Thanks Hawkman and I bow to your superior knowledge.

Thanks Myshkin you are absolutely correct I will correct it