IT'S NOT CRICKET

Oh what a sad game
Is football nowadays,
Full of cheats and conmen
And not much fairplay.
It's certainly not cricket
The way some players perform,
With diving and feigning injury
Treated like it is the norm.
The obscene amounts of money
These tricksters regularly earn,
Would make Sir Stanley Matthews
In his grave turn.
The latest dreadful act of cheating
Featured Ramires of Chelsea FC,
Diving cynically and theatrically
To gain a undeserved penalty.
How can he look in the mirror
And hold his head up high?
After cheating fellow professionals
And glorying in the lie.
It seems cheats can now prosper
It happens in games every week,
He claimed he didn't dive or fall
A conman even when he speaks.
The game I love is ruined
Cheating's now the winning ticket,
Football's now awash with frauds
And it certainly isn't cricket.

Phil Hall  November 2013.