God's Footballer

God's footballer hears the voices of angels
Above the choir at Molineux
God's footballer stands on the doorstep
And brings the Good News of the Kingdom to come
While the crowd sings 'Rock of Ages'
The goals bring weekly wages
Yet the glory of the sports pages
Is but the worship of false idols and tempts him not

God's footballer turns on a sixpence
And brings the Great crowd to their feet in praise of him
God's footballer quotes from the Gospels
While knocking on doors in Black Country back streets
He scores goals on a Saturday
And saves souls on a Sunday
For the Lord says these are the Last Days
Prepare thyself for the Judgement yet to come

His career will be over soon
And the rituals of a Saturday afternoon
Bid him a reluctant farewell
For he knows beyond the sport lies the spiritual


God's Footballer by Billy Bragg


I love Billy Bragg. I love his songs. He writes some of the best lyrics I've ever heard. How about "Sexuality"? Brilliant. Not love, not passion, just good clean (or dirty) sex - however you like it amongst consenting adults.
I saw Billy Bragg at The Barrowlands in Glasgow in the Eighties. My boyfriend Scott took me and I threw a tantrum because he'd got us a prime position in front of the stage and I was feeling claustrophobic - spoilt brat. 
Billy was amazing. He is everything that is good and true in a man. He is an honest working class poet. He has a strong moral code and stands up for what he believes in - a man of courage. A man with "core values" as my husband would say. Mm.


Anyway, I digress - for God is indeed a footballer and plays through the feet of these young sportsmen just as sure as Christ was his son. Which leads me on to the subject of today's Blog.


Today Chris and I watched the Crawley Town v Manchester United FA Cup match on telly. We were having a well earned day off, the first of three in a row, and I was feeling at peace with the world having had a productively lazy day - my favourite kind!


So I was in good spirits when I curled up to watch the match featuring as it did our local West Sussex boys. We had discussed it the night before, Chris and I, and we figured that Man U would go easy on them in the first half, out of respect. And then they'd throw everything at them and end up winning four nil or something. And we were right. But also surprisingly and most thrillingly wrong. 


It was a delightfully David and Goliath scenario with Crawley fighting hard and winning possession against the mighty Man U. And they won! Okay the score was 1-0 to Goliath but Crawley outplayed and outran them by a mile. It was a joy to watch. Nothing deterred them. They were fearless and brilliant in their attack and their defence. The Dutch goalie Kuipers was sheer genius and a pleasure to watch - England team take note. The Man of the Match was awarded to Pablo Gill the Crawley Town Captain. He was fantastic - always on the ball and playing for the team. Torres was on brilliant form too - he didn't miss an opportunity once and his one yellow card is just testament to how tenacious he was.


Manchester United had some good players too but they lacked lustre, as if they didn't have the heart to fight their opponent. I have respect for that. But even when they threw Rooney at them, they still had no oomph.


I've been a football fan since I was young and used to watch it on a Sunday afternoon with my dad. Snooker, Golf, Formula One and Football. My dad would fall asleep and I would remain beside him, watching attentively so that i could update him when he awoke.


And what about the footballers themselves? I know often they behave like spoilt kids, paid too much money and treated like kings, but who wouldn't if transported into such an unreal world at such an early age. I love footballers as much as the beautiful game itself. Thierry Henry? Yes please. David James - a Renaissance Man no less. Zinedine Zidane - I loved it when he lamped his opponent in The World Cup for insulting his mother! Football is a great game - entertaining in so many ways (especially for a woman) representative of life itself.


Here's to Crawley Town! Here's to David, the underdog!
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