An Englishman to World Cups Past
That 1966 World Cup
_is but a memory,
awarded, so the Scotsmen claim,
_to England, quite unfairly.
Since then, our World Cup wilderness
_has had its ups and downs.
A dwarfish Argentinian
_denied us further crowns
as did the wily Croats of
_the checkered livery,
symbolic of our national team’s
_uneven history.
But worst of all was nineteen-nine-
_ty’s Cameroonian show;
we barely crossed the finish line,
_then fell to our old foe.
So, this year, North America
_is where our fans will roam,
and as with past World Cups, we’re sure—
_this time it’s coming home.
Paul A. Freeman is the author of Rumours of Ophir, a crime novel which was taught in Zimbabwean high schools and has been translated into German. In addition to having two novels, a children’s book and an 18,000-word narrative poem (Robin Hood and Friar Tuck: Zombie Killers!) commercially published, Paul is the author of hundreds of published short stories, poems and articles.
If not, there’s always American football to adopt and root for…
Sacrilege!
Funny thing is, if we do win, we won’t have something to complain about and will be lost.
Thanks for reading.
I wish your team good luck, Paul.
Thanks, Roy. Once again the hopes are raised, but from past experience…
My neighbor is an Englishman
Who refereed football.
When England plays on my TV;
He comments on each call.
He’s smart and passionate, the team
he likes is Crystal Palace.
While cheering England on with other
teams he shows no malice.
But whether England leads halfway
Or leads close to full time.
He stands and leaves because he knows
The end will be a crime.
No matter what the score, he says,
Three Lion’s fans all know it;
The end will always be the same,
The English team will blow it.
But, as you say, maybe this year will be different.
As an aside, in 1966 I was in a French restaurant with my parents on July 20th. The restaurant’s TV was on while everyone watched England defeat France 2-0. It was assumed that because we spoke English we were either English or, if American or Canadian, we were biased towards England. We were subsequently ignored, service slow, food delivered to our table warm, and it took 30 minutes or longer before they would settle our bill. It was, of course, a historic moment. Ten days later when England defeated West Germany 4-2 in an overtime final, we were in Milan and since Italy had been bounced out of the first round by the Soviet Union and North Korea (Really! No kidding!) nobody seemed to care who we were or even who won.
This was enormous fun! All the best to the English team
Thanks, Rohini. Alas, it’s part of growing up and being British to be gallant losers.
You’re neighbour must be a happy bunny, James. Crystal Palace have only ever won two major trophies – one this year and one last year!
It is true that England fans all think the referees have it in for us. Mind you, check out the 2014 World Cup England goal against Germany that got disallowed!
Thanks for your poem. It’s spot on.
Agreed, this is fun to read — and appears to have been fun to write (the enjambment of “nine-/ty” was a particularly nice touch). Having an Argentine wife who’s enthusiastically supporting the defending champions, I appreciate this literary tribute to the games.
It was great fun to write, Adam. We English love moaning about being ‘robbed’ in the World Cup and the Eurovision Song Contest.
Paul, your poem struck heartfelt chords of memory. My grandparents had just been given a television in 1966, and I was spending the month of July with them. I became enthralled with the English effort, and unlike young sportswatchers at present, that meant I went out for vigorous walking and soaring bicycling during which I imagined English victory. In fact, I was out exercising and hoping as those final scores came during overtime. After all these years of disappointment, may the Cup come home! And may you have the opportunity to compose a Pindaric victory ode.
At least England have won a World Cup within my lifetime. What’s very ‘England’ is that we finally had an English England manager (Gareth Southgate) who had taken the team to new heights – World Cup semi-final and European Cup final – after years in the wilderness, but was replaced because we didn’t win either cup. Our improvement under him had been phenominal.
Unfortunately, I’m expecting us to be back to the usual.
I love your memories of 1966.
Honestly, I’d rather watch grass grow between my toes than watch a soccer match. Talk about sitting on your hands !
Kip, there’s been some sort of political push in the last few years to make soccer an American sport — God only knows why, since most Americans see the game exactly as you do.