VILLA WON THE LEAGUE CUP, BLUES MADE ME PAY...

My Teddy

There was a Duck:

Worn, cream cloth,

Two small wings, 

Ripped orange beak.

Barely played with it.

Simply lay around.

Too small a thing.

Outlook bleak.

There was a Bear:

Worn sandy cloth,

Two sad eyes,

Tripped, tackled, thrown.

Rarely stayed with it.

Glibly lay around.

Too sad cries.

Ted outgrown.

Dressed by a pupil:

Ted regained some pride,

Despite his loss of fur,

Outlasted a pair of cuddly rabbits,

A scrawny duck for company,

He survived the marriage blur.

Dressed by a daughter:

Ted displayed a Villa shirt,

Despite his sewn-up paws,

Rested proudly on car’s rear shelf,

A scrawny duck for company.

He 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 vehicle,

Too deeply written,

Dug, gouged, scratched.

Callously incensed by colours.

Pathetically lying aground.

Too deeply smitten,

‘BCFC’, criminals matched. 

Loved by a child:

Ted was never found,

Despite his owner’s search,

Misted a pair of adult’s eyes,

A scrawny duck for company,

He vanished, besmirched…

Mourned by a man,

Ted became a memory,

Despite his limitations;

Detested those who stole old Ted,

A scrawny duck for company.

He’d succumbed to desecration…

Pete Ray

THE ONLY KNOWN IMAGE OF TED...

Villa beat Manchester United in the League Cup Final of 1994. My daughter Lucy dressed my old Teddy in a 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 my car was stolen from outside the house during the night, a week later. It was found in Tamworth a few days on, muddy and disabled by the thieves. They were obviously Birmingham City fans for they had scratched ‘BCFC’ on the hood 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. Inside a bird book there was a £5 note. 

The Blues fans failed to find it.