FGR fan Crispin Thomas walked up to the pre-season friendly Shortwood v FGR. This took place on the 31st July 2024 in 25 degrees heat. The result, Shortwood United 0-8 Forest Green Rovers.
Crispin’s poem of his walk is below. He writes;
“Another nod to Robert Frost’s ‘Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening’ whose words ran through my head as we climbed. An amazing walk and climb uphill from Newmarket above Nailsworth, Glos to Shortwood’s lovely tree- lined ground. Established in 1900, the club are currently members of the Hellenic League Division One and play at the Meadowbank Ground.”
– check out this and other football poetry at http://footballpoets.org/poems/wagking-through-woods-to-a-game/
Walking Through Woods To A Game
whose woods these are I do not know
but to a hilltop ground they go
and as we climb in Summer heat
this well trod path beneath our feet
will lead us high above the town
and carry us both up and down
through air so humid thick and still
as we rise further up the hill
I stop for breath above the stream
as fans pass by from either team
this ancient wood is steep and green
the most unusual way I’ve seen
no other route to watch a game
will somehow ever feel the same
my cheeks are red my climbing slow
as Andrew cries “not far to go”
when suddenly the trees are passed
and here’s a level road at last
and through a clearing we have found
this tiny hilltop football ground
Shortwood v FGR. Thanks to Andrew Budd for his picture.
