And the Winners Are…
Exiled Valiant Barry Edge lives in Australia and is a regular columnist for onevalefan. With season 2001/02 coming to an end Barry shares with ovf his choices for ‘Winners’ on and off the park.
This is a fun piece of verse with a touch of respect. My special thanks to all ovf posters.
And the Winneres Are…
These are my personal thoughts and awards
From a season’s reading of Rob’s message board,
With the end of the last game in Two Thousand and two
It will be a time to relax, a time to renew.
My choice for ‘Joint Effort – Second to None’
Goes to the promoters of Valiant-Two thousand and One
For their continued endeavour to secure Port Vale
A club for supporters, hearty and hale.
If ever there was doubt in the ‘Power of the few’
To mobilise fans with one voice loud and true,
It’s the Vale Park Beano and the likes of Dick Dale
For solving that riddle – ‘there was no LIDL sale’.
With a paper thin squad and Fifteen Thousand Quid
Brian Horton’s worked wonders with his bunch of loyal kids
By giving them a vision, a purpose and a reason
To believe in their futures and my ‘Man of the Season’.
Now who could be my ‘Player of the Year’?
Yet to pick just one seems hardly fair,
And whilst midfielders and forwards get most of the votes
It goes to Mark Goodlad who’s impressed me the most.
My thanks to MikR for this next award
When he gave us the saying ‘The Buddha of the Board’,
For defining ‘Vale issues with earnest intent
It’s Aspins Revenge and Source of the Trent.
Now we know that a photo’ is a moment in time
Which captures the essence come hail, rain or shine,
The ‘Shutterbug Award’ will be agreed by all
Goes to the one and only, our good friend Tall Paul.
‘My Favorite Stokie’ has been a hard one to pick
From the many Posters’ of the Good Castle Brit,
Such as Shiffa and Bo, plus Grey man and more,
But I’ve given it to a man called MCF Seventy-Four.
Now there’s one little trophy surely nobody wants
It’s for those who use uppercase and mix up their fonts,
For shouting their messages with blatant discord
Please stand and receive the ‘Forgettable Award’.
For ‘Ed of the Message Boards’ there’s only one choice,
It’s the Founder responsible for giving me a voice
Through the auspices known as onevalefan,
He once lived in Bristol, Rob Fielding’s the man.
Now the Fielding’s little boy will be the first to declare
That many ‘Vale posters an Award they should share
For loyalty unswerving throughout thick and thin
To remain ‘True Blue Believers’ whether we draw, lose or win.
Barry Edge
Western Australia
March 23, 2002
🙂