Poet Crowned Penalty King

A Dumbarton poet has been crowned ‘Penalty Kick King’ after holding his nerve to win a competition to find Scotland’s top poetic penalty taker.

The ‘Poets and Penalties’ competition was held this weekend in the Scottish and saw competitors recite lines from their poems in the seconds leading up to facing down the keeper from 12 yards.

The event, believed to be the only one of its kind in the world, was organised by Nil by Mouth as part of its ‘Kiss Bigotry Goodbye’ campaign which seeks to promote the positives of Scottish football.

Stephen collects the trophy

After a round of spot kicks Dumbarton fan Stephen Watt and Clydebank FC Club Poet Hamish MacDonald faced off in a West Dunbartonshire showdown with Watt clinching the title when Macdonald’s final effort struck a post. Poets Criag Aitchison, Andy Jackson, Stuart Kenny and Peter A Russell also took part in the competition which was held in the Scottish Borders village of Stow.

Recent years have seen a rise in the popularity of football poetry with several clubs engaging a poet in residence and the Scottish Football Magazine Nutmeg publishing an anthology of poems as well as having a dedicated poetry section in each edition.

The competitors pay to big thanks to volunteer goalie Keir McIver

In addition to Nil by Mouth’s work tackling bigotry in the game the charity also seeks to highlight the passion and positives that football brings to communities across the country.

Nil by Mouth Director Dave Scott said:

‘Much of our work involves dealing with the more poisonous side of sport so this event is a welcome chance to highlight the passion and poetry of the beautiful game. Football is something that brings real colour and exhilaration to people’s lives and it was great listening to the poets share their work and have a laugh together afterwards. They certainly took the penalties seriously and Stephen will no doubt enjoy a penalty kick win over Clydebank and I hope Dumbarton will welcome him onto the pitch to celebrate! It’s certainly something we would do again next year and we’ve had an offer from Lowland League club Gala Fairydean Rovers, who provided the goalie for the event, to host the next one in the run up to one of their league fixtures in front of the iconic Netherdale stand.’

Winner Stephen Watt said:

‘With the recent takeover at Dumbarton this will hopefully add to the feelgood factor around the club and Hamish certainly pushed me close. We are always looking for new ways to share our poems and events like this are a great way to bring poets from different clubs and parts of Scotland together to celebrate the art and encourage other people to give it a go. There is such a diverse range of people that each week push through the turnstiles looking for some escape and sense of connection with others and there are some real universal themes running through the work the guys shared on the pitch. It reminds us that poetry is at its best when its accessible to people and about the things that matter.’