" Fools Gold"

 

I cannot believe
How stupid
So called ‘intelligent’
People can be.
Can you not see
Without the lot
Who develop property
There will be
No Football Club
For you and me
Just history.
Your naivety
Knows no bounds
Have you listened to
Your own sounds?
Without that nasty
Development company
With who we’re
Jumping into bed
Our Dulwich Hamlet
Will already be dead.
There you go…
On the attack
To save Champion Hill
Do you really think
This current ground
Not just fits the bill
But pays them too?
It’s been a bloody terrible ground
Right from the start
Which I hoped you would realise
If you had the Club at heart.
We’ve been run into the ground
By that McCormack cheat
But did you stand up to him
Not a fucking bleat!
None of us have money
To put things right
But now they’re cleared our debts
There’s a future in sight.
It won’t happen overnight
Even though we’re on a roll
By taking their loot
We haven’t sold our soul.
You all use the word ‘we’
As if it’s our Club
And there really is the rub
It’s never been ours
No matter how far back you go
But now we have a chance
To make FAN POWER show.
I don’t just want
The Hamlet to survive
Push for one fan, one vote
And the Club to thrive.
If it all goes tits up
You’ve had a few good years
Back to whatever you did
Necking your hipster beers.
Can you grasp
What we’re trying to save?
It’s so much more to be lost
Than a radical flag
Or a place for you to hoist
Your ‘Against Modern Football’ tag.
Time for you to
Stand up and be counted
Ready to oppose any challenge
To save shitty Greendales
That’s mounted.
This is so much more
Than posh homes and a new ground
It’s about making sure
Our Club is still around.
Don’t make Edgar Kail Way
Lead to a dead end
For if you don’t get on board
That’s the message it will send.
This IS our ONLY chance
To take control
With accountable fans
Playing an important role.
Time to stand up
Time to be counted.
Come make a fuss
As this new development
Is the ONLY way forward for us!
Be careful what you wish for
In case it comes true
Once the damage is done
You won’t be able to undo
For if you make
The wrong judgement call
And Dulwich Hamlet die
I’m not one to make idle threats
Or tell a lie
You’ll be looking over your shoulder
For the rest of your life
There’s so much damage I can do
With a sharp knife…
 
Dulwich Poet 5^th February 2014

( The Football Club I support, and care so much about, has a very uncertain future, albeit potentially extremely positive. The current owner has run it into the ground, we have a new ground owner, which is a property development company. They want to built us a new ground on Metropolitan Open Land, adjacent, and build housing on our current ground, which I support. There are a number of fans confused by this, I think, due to lack of information, and are panicking into thinking the only way to save the Club is to save our current ground, which is not the best option at all. This poem is not against those fans, but borne out of frustration from reading their views, which I think is based on a mix of naivety about non-league football, a true love of the Club like mine, and a natural distrust of developers.)