After our awful February, I think I have to remind everyone of one of Sage Seth's finest but saddest offerings !

Saturday 28th Feb. 1970. Yeovil 1 v 2 Chelmsford City

It was an early spring game and despite pre- Christmas optimism, a defeat against Chelmsford City had taught us the grim truth. We were simply not good enough to win the title. Another season was fading. It was almost midnight when I found the Sage at the top of the C Block. Head in hands, he looked up, his aging eyes bloodshot and awash with tears and whispered these touching lines:

Stop all the clocks, and let the tannoy hum,
Prevent the crowd from singing with some chewing gum,
Silence the rattles and muffle the drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let helicopters circle mourning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the season is dead
Fold up the scarves and wrap them in black
Collect the shirts in a dark, dark sack.

They were my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought winning would last for ever; I was wrong.

The floodlights are not wanted now: take them down by hand;
Roll up the pitch and dismantle the stands;
Tear up the league table, you know we should
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

( However there is a rider to the story. After the Sage�s rare outburst of gloom and depression, the Glovers went on to win ten out of their next eleven matches and finished only one point behind Cambridge United.)

More of the thoughts of Sage Seth - the Green and White Guru will be revealed as the season progresses.

The Sage Seth Archives are here.

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