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THE LIFE OF BRIAN
George Kirby
He was born just a
goal-kick from Ayresome Park,
And outside his first
home there hangs a small plaque,
A tribute to a man that
some often say should,
Have received the great
honour of the Queen?s Knighthood.
He was from a large
family that had oft? times struggled,
And, through earlier
days, they had ?fought? and juggled,
But his childhood was
happy; examples set thorough,
As he dreamed he?d play
soon for his much beloved Boro.
At the age of just
twenty he made his debut,
And at once his goal
tally amazingly grew,
Each season the Boro
fans felt as in heaven,
Then he left after nine
years having scored one-nine-seven.
Boro fans were
aggrieved and for very good reason,
For Cloughie guaranteed
forty goals in a season,
Then he left for the
Black Cats; a move taken poorly,
Then, sadly, through
injury, his career ends prematurely.
As news of the
career-threatening injury?s released,
It is met, with great
sadness, throughout the north-east,
Although his career as
a player?s now finished,
His love of the great
game just never diminished.
He took over as manager
at struggling ?Pools,
When one thinks of what
followed, one instantly drools,
Via Brighton and Derby
then Forest and Leeds,
His achievements were
greater than some unnamed Swedes.
With Derby and Forest ?
teams so out of fashion,
He won great rewards,
showing belief and great passion,
On the touchline he?d
make his opponents feel frailer,
Due, in no small part,
to his assistant, Pete Taylor.
Many Boro fans, to this
day, still feel somewhat aggrieved,
That he didn?t manage
Boro, as they?d always believed,
He was forthright and
blunt and always the straightest,
And as a scorer of
goals, in my mind, was the greatest.
After long, drawn-out
illness this great football Ace,
Was taken too early to
a much better place,
When news came through
that the great man had died,
One thought of him
instantly, with tremendous pride.
There were tears in the
boardroom and on the quayside,
Felt most of all, I?d
say, in his home-town in Teesside,
But although the Boro?s
greatest son is now dead,
One thing still lives
on and that?s Old Big ?Ead.
?George Kirby 2006
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THE LIFE OF BRIAN
