Flagging down the Poetry Bus

Cost of a ticket this week for the Poetry Bus driven by Weaver, is simply to write about a person. As the World Cup is on at the moment, as some of you might have noticed, I thought I'd continue the theme. For non-football people, I should perhaps point out that England won their only World Cup in 1966, largely due to a 'Russian linesman' who deemed that a shot by the England player Geoff Hurst (pictured above) had crossed the line and was therefore a goal.

Tofik Bahramov

Tofik Bahramov, alas, is very, very dead,
He lies in Baku with a marble headstone o’er his head.
A hero in his native land, renowned in verse and song
A hero in far En-ger-land for getting something wrong.

They said he was a Russian, but that wasn’t quite correct.
For years we’ve shown the Azerbaijan people disrespect,
For Tofik was Azeri, and was doubtless very proud
Of his part in the goal that never should have been allowed.

Imagine his emotions back in July in sixty six,
As Hurst’s shot hit the crossbar and bounced down between the sticks.
How could he be so adamant that Hurst had scored his second?
But sure he was, and so a place in World Cup hist’ry beckoned.

Millions all around the globe thought it was undeserved,
And scarcely anybody thought that justice had been served.
And Tofik Bahramov acquired an everlasting fame,
Lauded or reviled by observers of the game.

The country’s national stadium was re-named in his honour,
A true icon of football, unlike Cruyff or Maradona.
Outside the ground, his statue stands, his ‘tache bristling with pride
Right arm long extended, as if gesturing offside.

And now he lies there underneath the wet Caucasian earth,
Just missing independence for the country of his birth.
And no, he wasn’t Russian, though so many millions knew
Him as “The Russian Linesman,” though he hailed from Baku.