Denaby Utd – United Reserves – Poem

18 April 1908

Mexborough & Swinton Times, April 18, 1908

Diligent Denaby
United Reserves Routed
The Championship In Sight.

A Famous Victory.

Old William Lawler takes his ease,
With pipe, at close of day;
The passing years have weakened knees
And turned his hair to ‘grey—
His comfort in senility,
To talk of a famous victory.

And ‘ere the twilight fastens down
The curtain’s of the day,
The vet’ran of a dead renown
To grandchildren will say:
“A day, my pets, like this, ‘twould be,
When we secured the victory.”

`The, crowd rolled up to see us fight
As for our very lives,
And there we were, all fit and tight,
And keen, as keenest knives;
The Sheffielders came down to see
Us win that famous victory.

“The sturdy collier lads just faced
The best that they could send,
It mattered not how swift they raced,
We beat them in the end:
We local lads won prettily,
Ah! ’twas a famous victory

“They relight us with rare weapons, too,
With training and with skill;
And it was all that we could do,
To put them through the mill:
But keeping on right sturdily,
We scored a famous victory.

“Just rough and ready lads we were,
We’d not been polished off;
Nor did we in politeness err,
We ‘weren’t the football toff;
Through blood and hair and referee,
I see that famous victory.”

“But, grand-dad,” said the wondering Will,
Desiring something more—
What made you want these men to kill
Or hurt each other for?”
“My child, we damaged nobody,
But scored a famous victory

And did you grandpa, scored a goal
Also little Annie Jane;
‘Nay. Lass, to watch em do it all
“Wi’out me was the pain
That spoiled my evenings jubilee
after the famous victory