"Hull and Hell"

It seems such a long time ago
That because it was.
A lifetime ago
Many of our younger fans
Were not even born!
I doubt if they
Would even know
Where Hitchin Town's
Top Field was
Nor do they care
Even though they are aware
It was Johnny Egan who
Put the ball in their net.
Twenty one years since
Our previous promotion
All that time spreading the notion
That we went up in style
And I wore a big smile.
Truth is...
I was too pissed to really recall.
I want the half memories
To fade away.
Trying not to be reminded
Of my hazy drunken day.
From Hitchin to Hull
Out of my skull
For the Streatham girls
Ice hockey team
Whole weekend nightmare
Rather than a dream.
Pints and tins before the game.
Then dashing oop north
For more of the same.
Add some vodka
And a bottle of shampoo
That's what I thought
You had to do.
On 'automatic pilot'
In a strange northern town
Lucky not to get battered
Drunk Cockney clown.
Last bell rung, out of my face
Time to get back to our posh hotel place.
A ' little nightcap' with the wedding group
I was the comedy fly falling in the soup
Crashing out in a tray of grub
I should have given up after the pub
But an alcoholic can never stop
Not until the eyelids drop.
Got dumped in my room left for dead
In the morning got called 'vol-au-vent' head.
All surprised to see me awake
I need a drink, so a piece of cake.
Get to the rink, first at the bar
Not got the shakes, but need a top up jar.
Way back then the pubs shut at three
Wasn't going to let that stop me.
Walking round Hull, no boozers in sight
Need an offie open, day and night.
Found a shop that broke the law
I got some tins for my 'score'
Desperate for my alcohol fix
Had to walk miles to make me tick.
A few of my friends
Had gone strolling too
Just until the coach home came
For something to do.
They went to look at
Hull City's ground
The jammy bastards
A Sunday cup final was found.
I never got to Boothferry Park
Before it was knocked down
And I had lost my alkie crown
One of many things I will regret
But I'm a decade sober now
I can't really fret.
Dulwich Poet 14th July 2013

( With Dulwich Hamlet having won the title last season, I got thinking about our previous promotion, in third spot, 21 years ago. That was when I was a heavy drinker, and had not accepted I was an alcoholic. One of our (now ex) fans played ice hockey for Streatham, and they were in the British Womens Ice Hockey Championships, up in Hull, so she missed our promotion game. A few of us went to Hull, after promotion at Hitchin, and saw her play on the second day of the competition. I had no idea where this poem was going, when I began to write it. It's about the weekend, and my regret at wanting more drink, rather than going to the old Hull City ground at Boothferry Park, where my mates found a game being played there.)