Ode To The Vetch

The first time I saw her was one Wednesday night
I guess you could say that I’d seen the light
I knew then that from every August to May
I’d spend half my life next to ole Swansea Bay

The noise she created was second to none
I left sometimes happy, but sometimes glum
It didn’t matter to me, the Swans were my team
Winning the league was my ultimate dream

I’d look round the ground and stand back in awe
It was people like me, that was all that I saw
Just watching the ball and willing it in
The opposition goal for a Swansea win

The North Bank was loud, all singing their song
Most knew the words, some got them wrong
All together as one, the ground seemed to shake
Second to none, Atmosphere she did make

I stood on the East before they built up above
I got soaking wet, this was my first love
I looked down the field and wanted the win
The ball came across and someone headed it in

I went up on high when they finished the stand
I felt like a farmer surveying his land
I soon learned the folly of my youthful ways
When it rained up that high, you were soaking for days

I sat in the centre and watched from the side
Still watching my team, enjoying the ride
If my father could hear what the managers said
He’d have said ‘son, it’s time for your bed’

I loved it West side next to the visiting fans
They came in their cars, their buses and vans
I hated it there when the Swans lost the game
Going back home after was never the same

The West it was huge, I watched from the top
It was better up there than on Anfield’s Kop
It had to come down though sooner or later
As soon as they said for safety we cater

The North though was calling, it was to be home
I had to return, like a dog to a bone
All the games I remember I wonder why
And then I start singing Swans Till I Die

The players I saw in the famous old girl
The 40 odd years have passed like a whirl
I still see them now through the passage of time
Jimmy Hadziabdic, now is there a rhyme?

Toshack and Curtis, plus Robbie James
To some they are legends, others just names
Every one of them came through the gates of the ground
They scored the goals, we created the sound

The fourth to the first, they were wonderful years
They all came down here, all faced without fears
We rose to the top, we sunk back down here
In the middle of that we all shed a tear

Twice we came close to losing the club
Meetings were held, most in the pub
It’s not just the teams we faced on the pitch
We’ve beaten them all, every small hitch

The time now is right to move on and grow
To build on the seeds that we still have to sow
The Vetch is soon to have time called on it
I’ll miss it a lot, much more than a bit

The memories though I’ll never see fade
The matches I’ve watched, the friends that I’ve made
This ground has seen me grow into a man
Like I’m sure it has done for many a fan

She saw it all in the time she served all of us
It’s wrong to let her pass with minimum fuss
The good times we shared, the bad in there too
I think saying this was the right thing to do

Thank you dear Vetch, We’ll never forget you
Over the years we’ve stuck together like glue
The time though has come to leave you alone
The club’s moving on, it’s got a new home

It won’t be the same, but the time comes to part
You’ll always be there deep down in my heart
Thanks for the memories, the times that we shared
More than a ground, I’m sure that you cared

The end though is close, just weeks to go now
Time for you to take one final bow
Every good thing it must come to an end
My final word, you’ve been a great friend.