WATCH: Northern Ireland fan pens a poem for the Green and White Army

A Portadown poet's rallying call for the Northern Ireland football team has become an internet hit.
Glenn Wilson in the video of his poem for Northern Ireland.Glenn Wilson in the video of his poem for Northern Ireland.
Glenn Wilson in the video of his poem for Northern Ireland.

Supporter Glen Wilson penned the piece for his beloved Northern Ireland ahead of the side’s Nations League campaign.

The civil servant from Portadown is an award-winning writer and poet and most recently won the Seamus Heaney Award for New Writing 2017 for his poem The Lotus Gait.

He was approached by the IFA earlier this year and asked to create a poem for Northern Ireland.

Glenn Wilson in the video of his poem for Northern Ireland.Glenn Wilson in the video of his poem for Northern Ireland.
Glenn Wilson in the video of his poem for Northern Ireland.

The result of the match against Bosnia didn’t go the way he wanted but the response to the poem has had a superb response.

Glen said that writing this for the football team is a dream come true.

“A friend of mine from Poetry NI had been approached by the IFA about putting together a spoken word piece.

“He put me forward and I was asked a few weeks ago to put something together for the Nation’s League then the Thursday before the match I travelled up to Windsor to record the video.

“It was a dream come true to step out onto that pitch and I was lucky enough to go around Windsor, it was a surreal experience and the IFA were fantastic.

“I am very proud, it’s not something I thought would ever happen.

The video has had over 37,000 views on social media and proving very popular with the Green and White Army.

Glen added: “It is a very good response and getting positive feedback, there was over 30,000 views last time I checked.

“A lot of people are really enjoying it because it is good to set the scene for the new campaign starting and getting excited about the match.

“It was also shown on Sky Sports during their build-up to the match.”

Glen who also leads worship at St Mark’s Church of Ireland, Portadown, is set to release a new book of poetry coming out next year.

Video courtesy of the Irish Football Association.