I was captain of the football team at college
We didn’t play that many games
Just occasional fixtures
As a result we didn’t meet for tactics
Or plan how we would play
Just took the field
Relying on our talent to sustain us
We had good players
We’d play we wouldn’t yield
One day we went to Oscott
Up in Brum
I decided that we needed to have a talk
Would they be receptive to my idea?
Or would they tell me go and take a walk?
I wouldn’t say too much
Just one idea
I sat them down and
Drew upon a board
The man who has the ball is not important
It’s those who want the pass
Who need to move
I called my plan
Creative alternatives
Give the man all options as you can
Make it easy for him to make a pass
Give him the luxury of choice
That’s all I ask
They liked what I had said
The idea sank in
We went to Brum
And played them off the park
And Father Parker
Faithful Burnley man
Came up to me at half time and he said
In all my years of watching college football
I’ve never seen a performance to match that
It’s more than fifty years
Since that game
But it stays with me
It makes me feel so proud
Just one idea simply said and spoken
Transformed a bunch of lads into a team
The idea comes from the Lord
It’s simply given
Be servants of one another is the theme
It worked for me in football
It will work for you in life
You might be the man on the ball
But it’s the others all around you
Who will make it worth the while
And in old age
My grandsons have the ball
And I take up positions close beside
I am there to help them play
You see I know the way
I’ll cheer them on
Each dog must have its day
Brian Fahy
28 November 2021
Erris Poetry 