THE KING AND THE LITTLE RED SHOP

          The King and the Little Red Shop

The day started with stacking sugar and honey,

“Thanks son”, “No, thank you Mr T, I needed the money”

To catch the bus to see the King in heaven,

But, first I’d have to run fast to be at Aunt Joan’s by eleven.

                                        ***

Either down Rubery lane, or through the grounds of the ‘bin’,

Wearing my stripes with pride, just like Cousin Vin.

Weaving through the crowds in the city with artful skill,

JEFF ASTLE
'THE KING'
1942-2002
361 GAMES
174 GOALS

To find a blue and white horde amassed at Snow Hill.

                                          ***

Going to heaven on the 79 bus, colours tied to wrist,

With our superstitions and folklore too great to list.

Travelling through Handsworth, that weird foreign land,

Strange coloured sweets and writing I didn’t understand.

                                           ***

One superstition we had to help win the game,

Was to spot then call out “Little red shop” by name.

A flaky, painted hardware store bedecked all in red,

Now no doubt, the shop, like the owners long, long dead.

                                            ***

Time to get off as we neared the ground,

The doors creaked open, greeted by an incredible sound.

A deafening roar from our corrugated blue heaven,

The tannoy calls bomber No 4, the King No 9 and Chippy at 7.

Another superstition, enter through the right side turnstile,

Then running up the steps of the ‘Brummie Rd’, our holiest pile.

With flags and scarves waving, arms aloft as they sing,

“The Brummie Road will sing this song, Astle is the King”

                                           ***

The King stands arms aloft, after heading another goal,

Then the ‘Bomber’ scores a rocket, we've joy deep in our soul.

Our King Jeff is magnificent; our opponent’s have been slighted,

The brilliant striped Baggies have just beaten Man Utd!

                                           ***

We walk back to town, lacking bus fare but basking in our glory,

Did the King realise the ‘Little red shops’ part in the story?

The last thing we did that day, despite our aching legs,

Was to celebrate the victory, by buying chocolate eggs.

(From Woolworths Soho Rd in Handsworth)

Phil Hall           September 2011

The legendary West Bromwich Albion centre forward Jeff Astle was my ultimate hero.
He died in 2002 and these gates were erected in his memory.



'The bin' was Rubery Hill Hospital, a mental hospital set in large grounds on the outskirts of Birmingham.
Children of the day referred to it rather unkindly as the 'loony bin' !
The 'Bomber' was Tony Brown and 'Chippy' was Clive Clark.
Mr T was a shop manager where I had a Saturday job stacking shelves.