WHEN THIEVES ILLUSTRATED THEIR SOCCER ALLEGIANCE...

The Captive Teddy Bear…

There was a duck.

Worn cream cloth,

Two small wings, 

Ripped orange beak.

Barely played with it.

It simply lay around.

Too small a thing,

Its outlook bleak.

There was a bear.

Worn sandy cloth,

Two sad eyes,

Tripped, tackled, thrown.

Rarely stayed with it.

It glibly lay around.

 No more compromise, 

Ted just outgrown.

Dressed by a pupil.

Ted regained some pride,

Despite his loss of fur

And outlasted a pair of cuddly rabbits.

With the scrawny duck for company,

He even survived a marriage blur.

Dressed by a daughter.

Ted displayed a Villa shirt,

Despite his sewn-up paws

And rested proudly on car’s rear shelf.

With a scrawny duck for company,

He even heard Wembley’s Lions’ roars.

There was a theft.

Worn out vehicle,

Two small toys

Gripped, despised, tossed.

Brutally dispensed by hate. 

Sadly lying aground… 

Two small joys,

Immeasurable, heartfelt cost.

There was a signature

Worn on the vehicle,

Too deeply written,

Dug, gouged, scratched.

Callously incensed by Villa’s colours,

Minds despicable, aground.

Too deeply smitten:

‘BCFC’ the criminals etched. 

Loved by a child,

Ted was never found,

Despite his owner’s search.

He misted a pair of adult’s eyes.

With a scrawny duck for company,

He vanished, besmirched…

Mourned by a man,

Ted became a memory,

Despite his inanimate fascination.

I detested those who stole old Ted.

With a scrawny duck for company,

He succumbed to desecration…

Pete Ray

January 2016

The only surviving image of the bear...

Aston Villa beat Manchester United in the League Cup Final of 1994. My daughter Lucy dressed my old teddy bear in a miniature Villa kit, he sat on the rear shelf of our Austin Montego on the drive to London and back with my old cloth duck and he maybe brought a little luck to the Midlands club… 

We returned late in the evening but sadly a week later my car was stolen from outside the house during the night. 

It was found in Tamworth a few days later, muddy and disabled by the thieves. 

They were obviously Birmingham City fans for they had scratched ‘BCFC’ on the hood of my Montego in huge capital letters. They must have found the teddy bear in its Villa kit and thrown it out of the car somewhere, along with the duck, never to be seen again, hence the lettering, I guess. 

Inside a bird book in the car, there was a £5 note. 

The Blues fans failed to find it. 

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