I look at all our coaches nowadays
And listen to them holding forth post-game:
The stream of phrases, sausages, all the same,
Ground up, churned out, consumable clichés.
Where are the masters of the pithy phrase
Whose wisdom, wit – and frequent lack of shame! –
Brought World of Sport and Football Inquest fame?
The voices of the past my mind replays:
“Will you pay the price?” “Don’t think! Just do!”
The “last non-thinking coach”; T-shirts and tea;
The “stuck it up ’em” post-match interview;
The Martians, seagulls, scarf aloft in glee.
With Bobby and now Yabbie gone to ground,
You’re kind of glad that Sheeds is still around.
Andrew used to do computers; now he does books and writing. 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2022 were particularly good years in his football-following life.
Nice poem Andrew. Your last line made me chuckle. But seriously – it is sad to see the passing of true characters, great leaders and wise men who contributed so much to the game