A good-luck bad luck start
to a good-luck bad luck day
All that separates the haves and have nots
Is a ticket to the game
And today before and after breakfast
I was ticketless all the same
And although the midday sun has passed
My situation hadn't changed
You'll never walk alone we sang
As we thronged towards the stand
My luck was all to change
Mally had spare tickets, two within his hand
Me and Steve were on them quickly
Two ticket-hungry lads, that can't believe their luck
From the outside to the inside
We joined the roaring crowd
In a dawning moment of awareness
My shock, I expressed out loud
"Steve, me mate, we're down the other end"
"No way, no way, no way," said Steve
Because once was not enough
"We're not going in their end," he said
"We'll be kicked to ******* death"
There's only one thing for it Steve
We'll have to swap with those not red
So round to section Z we went
To find some unsuspecting heads
Its an end for neutrals, sold tickets on the day
Right next to Liverpool's Kop army
Raucous, wild and partisan, roaring on the reds
No place for fans of Juve
They should be down the other end
Here's two older couples
Looking sensible and kind
Its time for a charm offensive
If we're gonna turn this inside out
My persuasive words aren't working
They don't want to split their group
Time to raise the stakes I think
And use the power of fear
"There's going to be much trouble" I warn
"There's bound to be a fight,
Best to play it safe" I say
"And get down the other end
That's where all the Juve are
You'll be amongst good friends"
Fear is quite persuasive
And fortune favours change
Funny how quickly luck changes
On a good-luck bad luck kind of day
And when the fans started fighting
Fortune it changed again
The dead they lay broken
And something in me too
So every anniversary
I think about our friends
Reflecting upon my words of wisdom
From down the other end
The Challenge - A Narrative Poem. Myself and a friend attended the Heysel Stadium disaster in Brussels. 39 football fans died after a wall collapsed following escalating violence between rival supporters of Liverpool and Juventus.
