"In The Beginning"

A Thursday night lonely
Reserve Team football for me
It's Cray Valley (Paper Mills) in the Suburban
I'm scraping the barrel to see.
I should have been here early
Time for McDonalds at the Yorkshire Grey
But with the 'transport gods' interferring
I wasn't going to have my way.
Traffic backing up
Not even bus lanes whizz me through
Not sure if I will make kick-off
Undecided what to do.
Waiting forty minutes at Catford
Tempted to go home and fume
I'll simmer up with anger
Inside my little room.
Eventually I get there
Surprised there's still no score
The 'bonus' being twenty minutes late
There's no-one collecting money on the door.
So why am I here?
To watch Fisher's second string
For 'history in the making'
Who knows what the future will bring.
The Fisher stiffs are struggling 
Goal difference of minus twenty four
It would be fair to say
After six games they're somewhat poor.
So what has piqued my interest
In the seats holding hardly a soul
Well I'm quietly supporting a friend
In his first ever managerial role.
He is living his dream
Right on the bottom rung
I am quietly confident
That on terraces his name will be sung.
But that's distant in the future
Fames a long way away
This is the start of his managerial 'apprenticeship'
Years of hard working without any pay.
Doing what he does
Totally for the love of the game
Mastering the art of excuses
When his players are lame.
Imagine being a Gaffer
At the age of only twenty
I've no doubt he's going to make it
Becoming footballing cognoscenti.
Unlucky to lose tonight
The next game was six nil
For sure there will be disappointment
Heavy defeats such a bitter pill.
But age is on his side
Plenty of time to advance
Fair play to the people at Fisher
For giving him his first chance.

Dulwich Poet 29th Spetember 2018

(A friend of mine has just been appointed manager of Fisher FC reserves/Under 23s)