"Luton"

It seems such
A long time ago now
Half of Sarf Lunnon
On tour
And more...
To Luton
For the FA Cup
Quarter Final.
A.C.A.B...us ans them
Seats, bricks, planks of wood
Attacking the Old Bill
With anything we could.
Surging over the pitch
Wave after wave
Boys in Blue
Not so brave.
Over thirty years on
I'm not ashamed
Just another day at the office
For which the Lions are famed.
That night for me
Was just having a laugh
But it could have been more serious
Down another path.
Dulwich Hamlet kept me
On the straight and narrow
Going to places like
Hendon and Harrow.
If I'd gone down Millwall
I'd have been in jail
A life of being remanded
Or released on bail.
For I bumped into
An old schoolmate
Back on THAT night
And as we went on the rampage
He thought I did alright.
Not long after
He gave me a bell
If I hadn't been Hamlet
I'd have ended up in a cell.
Many years later
I saw him again
Long time 'retired'
From the hooligans' Den
We sat down for a chat
And he told me his tale
Of how following Millwall
Had indeed ended in jail.
You might be wondering
Why I'm recalling it today...
For no other reason
I flew into Luton Parkway.
Despite what I've just told you
I got such a buzz
With Kenilworth Road
One of the highs of my life
If honest truth be told.
The past is the past
No time to regret
I must look forward
Life's die is set.
Who knows how long's left
One year or twenty?
Whatever my destiny
I hope I achieve plenty.
I must start believing
In myself as a person
Before I reach
My final curtain.
I hope it's not bigheaded
To believe Altona
Think I'm a nice chap
Now I just have to convince myself
And stop looking back.

Dulwich Poet 3rd June 2014

(I wrote this on the train back from Luton Parkway station, to London; having had a weekend in Hamburg, culminating in watching the Altona 93 fans tournament on the Saturday. I did not know where my thoughts were going, but it's about the 'infamous' Millwall FA Cup rampage at Luton, in 1985, when I was 19...)