Football Poets<\/a><\/h4>\nStopping By The Bridge On A Snowy Evening <\/p>\n
whose ground this is we surely know
\nyet so unrecognizable in snow
\nand I my glee can barely hide
\nto find these gates so open wide –<\/p>\n
my little dog must think it strange
\nto stop with neither sound nor game
\nhe gives his furry head a shake
\nas if to say \u201cfor heaven\u2019s sake\u201d<\/p>\n
as icicles upon the stand
\nhang pointing like some outstretched hand
\nmore purer than the blankest page
\nthis dazzling winter football stage<\/p>\n
more magic now than euro ties
\nor times when we the giants surprise –
\nor days when sun beat down on grass
\nas golden as some Zola pass<\/p>\n
and where so many sit and yell
\nthere\u2019s only me to feel and tell
\nsave for a flag with pigeons on
\nwho with a flurried flake are gone<\/p>\n
no markings here to see at all
\nno ground-staff player coach or ball
\nbut I\u2019m enraptured by the sight
\nof snow-bound terraces of white –<\/p>\n
while all around in empty streets
\nbrave motorists will make retreats
\nand slide through London\u2019s transformed land
\nlike skaters in some wonderland..<\/p>\n
how to a standstill weather brings
\na stop to more important things
\nand where there should be Wolves at home
\nI stand here silent and alone –<\/p>\n
and think on all who ever stood
\nor sat through seasons bad and good
\na hundred years upon this bridge
\nmore cold and bleak than any fridge..<\/p>\n
from Bovril to rosettes and tea
\nfrom hooligans to luxury
\nfrom Lawton\u2019s hair to Dynamos
\nRoy Bentley to John Sillett\u2019s nose<\/p>\n
from our old Shed to private suites
\nto walking home through crowded streets
\nPaul Cannoville and Nevin’s style
\nI ponder on it all a while<\/p>\n
but I have miles of motorway
\ntwixt home and all that I survey
\nand soon so soon I must return
\nto where my cottage fire will burn –<\/p>\n
but still i stand like referees
\nupon awarding penalties
\nto share in wonder as I go
\nthe beauty of a ground in snow<\/p>\n
\u00a9Crispin Thomas 2004<\/p>\n
With deep respect to Robert Frost .Written upon being invited in 2004 to run and undertake football poetry workshops with schools in London in conjunction with Chelsea FC and in particular to attend with the children involved )a special Christmas Party with Stuart Butler the players at Stamford Bridge in December 2004.
\nIt set me to thinking of a long gone post-Christmas winter one January when as a sensitive and highly impressionable child the famous Big Freeze set in, and games were off for what seemed like weeks. Because my school (Sloane Grammar in Hortensia Road, Chelsea), overlooked the Blues’ ground , I noticed during one cold Friday lunch-break that the big old blue wooden gates (also now long gone) had been left open ! I nipped out of the school-yard, crept in, and found the hallowed space empty and covered in snow.I have never forgotten that moment .<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Stanford Bridge, Chelsea…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2353,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-facebook"],"geo":null,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theball.tv\/2014\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2016\/05\/fbfpi_46b3ca7ef84d53a04b67d9e1a8d1ea0a.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theball.tv\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theball.tv\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theball.tv\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theball.tv\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theball.tv\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2352"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theball.tv\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2352\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2354,"href":"https:\/\/theball.tv\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2352\/revisions\/2354"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theball.tv\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theball.tv\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theball.tv\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theball.tv\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/p>\n