Hurst claims to be a Birmingham fan but was chosen by the judges because he writes chants for other teams including archrivals Aston Villa. Birmingham's faithful will be dead chuffed to have one of their own penning ditties in praise of Villa.
"He is a real find," THE Poet Laureate Andrew Motion said on Monday, "All the judges were of one mind in choosing him."
Hurst beat 1,500 entrants for the post, more than 100 times as many as applied for Motion's job last time it fell vacant. The chants laureate has to watch matches and compose a selection of chants reflecting key moments throughout the 2004-05 season - "a football fan's dream", Nic Gault, of the post's sponsors, Barclaycard, said yesterday.
How far the game has fallen.