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Welcome to Football Poets ~ Preserving your Football Poetry since 2000. Publish your football poems here, comment/discuss with fellow fans. Featured Poem & Image: If Shelley Watched Scott McTominay by Alex Saynor. Collated sections include Nostalgia, RIP, Hillsborough & Munich Poems. This site is archived by The British Library. Registration is now open! Read the FAQ or sign up now.

If Shelley Watched Scott McTominay

Alex Saynor 18th September 2026

If Shelley watched Scott McTominay
would his Naples dream have been of healing
even as the breeze from the Tyrrhenian
through holm oaks in the Villa Communale
reached an oriental plane?

Missing peace within and surpassing wealth,
is it that Percy would have lost himself
in the Quartieri Spagnoli under the Hand of God?
By Stadio San Paulo’s then untrampled floor
he may have found tenure in a purple noon

or peace as a visiting lecturer in seaweed
and star-showers, winding around Via Parco Grifeo
to dine at Veritas with despair itself
mild against stainless glory and stanzas of dejection
offset by I Azzuri.

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Notes

Percy Shelley was dejected in Naples, but I wondered his mood may have been lifted if football was around, especially in such a famous footballing city?

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45140/stanzas-written-in-dejection-near-naples

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joe morris
28th July 2026 at 9:40 pm

Hi Denys. Thanks for your kind words. I could have mentioned Dixie Dean but decided not to.

Best wishes, mate

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Denys E. W. Jones
26th July 2026 at 3:47 pm

Great knowledge of Everton history, Joe.

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joe morris
23rd July 2026 at 6:54 pm

Hi Jason,

Sorry I forgot to congratulate you on your excellent poem as well.

Keep well

Joe

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joe morris
23rd July 2026 at 6:43 pm

Hi Jason,

Thanks so much for your kind words about Kevin Keegan, a footballer of legendary status and deeply missed.

Best wishes

Joe

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Jason Prasad
23rd July 2026 at 12:01 pm

Thank you, Crispin. I will defo encorage my bunch to contribute and will of course clear it with staff room.

Many thanks
Jase

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Crispin Thomas
22nd July 2026 at 6:48 pm

Great poem Jase.

You are a man of my own heart …

And great to hear that you your students poems from our site.

Keep on and more please

if ever some of your students write anything suitable for here and most importantly they give you permission to publish them, you can always do so under your name referencing their names and the school..and year.

Best Crispin

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Jason Prasad
22nd July 2026 at 10:29 am

I think this is best thing I have read so far about the legend. Thanks

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Jason Prasad
22nd July 2026 at 10:22 am

One of the greats, inspired my generation of school kids in the 80s

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joe morris
23rd May 2026 at 3:35 pm

Hi Crispin,

Thanks for the featured poem for the Arsenal Premier League victory. I love that photo showing the Arsenal ladies and fans in full rattle and rosette mode. I’ve seen it before quite a few times and, I think, a bit iconic. I think it was before the Gunners victory against Liverpool in the 1950 FA Cup Final. Great photograph.

Thanks

Joe

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kevin halls
8th May 2026 at 4:21 pm

Thanks for that Joe. Yes it’s been some season we had a blip but came out of it and finished strong. A mate of mine supports West Ham here in Coventry and my next door neighbour is a Spurs supporter, and both are getting edgy ! I like the Championship though as it’s competitive and has some good teams, players, and fans. Anyway we are back in the top flight and who knows what will happen ?
Cheers. Kev.

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