Stags poet reads iconic Mansfield poem to football fans

Mansfield Town Football Club Poet Laureate Richard C Bower recited his well-known work to around 7,000 fans at the Bristol Rovers game on Saturday.

It was read during the return of the football season in Game 1 following the easing of lockdown restrictions.

The crowd cheered and applauded, after Richard recited the poem which evokes memories of Mansfield’s “glorious days”.

Richard is a former student of Queen Elizabeth School for Boys (now Queen Elizabeth Academy, Mansfield) and has written poetry his entire life.

The 45-year-old from Mansfield, who previously worked as a guidance counselor, living in Whitwell, has just completed a Masters in Journalism in Leeds.

He has written several collections of poems and his work has been included in Amazon’s 50 Best Inspirational Books category.

Richard said, “I wrote the poem for the club and the city, around the start of the original pandemic. It was always understood that I would be invited to recite it during Saturday’s game.

“It was an absolutely great experience, I got a fantastic response from the fans, a lot of people were saying they now want me to do it in every home game.

“Even people who are not from Mansfield have said that the feelings the poem evokes make them shiver.

“It was one of the biggest crowds at Mansfield Football Club since 1977 and my adrenaline was really skyrocketing, I was nervous, I was afraid of freezing in front of such a large crowd of around 7,000 people, but that went very well, i don’t think it could have gotten better.

Richard is currently working on his third book, “An Expedition Around My Garden”, which he describes as a “philosophical, personal and literal journey”.

Read Richard’s poem “This is Mansfield” here:

On the roofs of our proud city

From Bird, Arnold, Clarke and Pate

Mansfield Town, we love you

And the magic from Ian Greaves’ side

The big names of 69

And the World Cup winners received a hammer blow!

And over the following years, the Greens’ goals helped our return to the league.

From Quarry Lane to Bishop Street

With the sound of “Yellows! »Bellowing!

Mansfield Town – we love you

Wagstaff, Kent, Foster, McCaffrey

All intertwined and populate our history

Grease our weed on the oldest professional ground in the world

Is built on grain, cunning and grafting

And like the Deer

The centerpiece of our badge –

Over the decades we are strong

As the stronghold of Mansfield

None overcome – the trials we face and prevail

Together we continue to fight

Cause we are Mansfield – a small town with a big heart

As we watch the legends of the future

And to those who will make their name

In the color of amber and blue

And the sun keeps shining

On the roofs of our proud city

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