An ode to West Ham

West Ham fan, Bobby Guy has penned a piece of poetry ahead of West Ham’s quarter final’s against Manchester United.

Once more into the breach dear friends, once more

We block the M1 with our coaches and roaring motors

In this league there is nothing that so becomes a man than a rousing trip to the northern wastelands

But when the call of the FA Cup resounds in our ears, then be like lions

Flex the muscles, boil the blood, disguise your game face with grim-faced rage

Give your eyes a terrifying look, let them protrude from your skull like brass cannons

Now grit your teeth and flare your nostrils, strain every sinew to its limit

Onwards north you noble Irons sprung from fathers proven on the terraces

From the streets of Plaistow, from the fields of Essex

Prove now that those fathers did indeed beget you

Be examples now to men with less desire and show them how to fight a war

And you, from further reaches of Essex who’s limbs were made in England

Show us here what rural men are made of

Let us see that you are worthy to stand shoulder to shoulder with true grit

Which I have no doubt about

I see you descending into Old Trafford, the pit of hell, the so called Theatre of Dreams

Let ours be THEIR nightmare

straining for the start

The game’s afoot

Follow your heart

And upon this charge, cry

“God for Slaven, West Ham and Saint Payet!”