Players, managers and officials remember the 1914 Christmas Day Armistice

A host of footballers, coaches and officials have joined forces for a poetic tribute to the 1914 Christmas Truce.

The poem marks 100 years since soldiers on both sides of No Man's Land are said to have taken a festive respite from the horrors of trench warfare by playing football.

The recital will appear on the FootballRemembers.com website on Christmas Day, bringing a close to 'Football Remembers', a series of programmes and events delivered jointly by the Premier League, The Football Association and the Football League, in partnership with the British Council, to commemorate the First World War.

Those appearing are Vincent Kompany (Manchester City), Wojciech Szczesny (Arsenal), Charlie Austin (QPR), John O’Shea (Sunderland), Matt Bloomfield (Wycombe Wanderers), Sir Trevor Brooking, Gary Neville, Howard Webb, Steve McClaren (Derby County), Steven Taylor (Newcastle United), Jack Butland (Stoke City), Ashley Williams (Swansea City), Alan Irvine (West Bromwich Albion), Ian Holloway (Millwall), Morgan Schneiderlin (Southampton) and Mark Schwarzer (Chelsea).

The poem will be posted alongside 11,000 pre-match team photos that have been uploaded to FootballRemembers.com during December.

The pictures and poem recital will be handed to the British Library as a record of football in 2014.

Work on the poem started in mid-November during the Christmas Truce National Tournament held in Ypres, Belgium. The Poetry Society and Premier League worked together to enhance the educational aspect of the trip for the 320 young footballers representing all 20 Premier League clubs taking part in the tournament.

Leading poets accompanied the U12s as they visited British and Commonwealth and German cemeteries, memorials and the graves of former footballers and helped them produce their own poems.

Their work was then distilled into the final piece written by leading poet Ian McMillan called ‘The Game: Christmas Day 1914’.

The poem reading opens with a verse from Manchester City's Vincent Kompany, the captain of Belgium, and is concluded by Chelsea's Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.

Schwarzer’s Chelsea team-mate Eden Hazard kicked off Football Remembers in May 2014 when the partners launched a Football Remembers education pack that was sent to more than 30,000 schools across the UK. Since then there have been an array of legacy projects that ensure young people will continue to learn about the First World War for decades to come.

The Game: Christmas Day 1914

It is so cold.

The lines of this poem are sinking

Into the unforgiving mud. No clean sheet.

Dawn on a perishing day. The weapons freeze

In the hands of a flat back four.

The moon hangs in the air like a ball

Skied by a shivering keeper.

All these boys want to do today

Is shoot, and defend, and attack.

Light on a half-raised wave. The trench-faces

Lifted till you see their breath.

A ball flies in the air like a moon

Kicked through the morning mist.

All these boys want to have today

Is a generous amount of extra time.

No strict formations here, this morning;

No 4-4-2 or 4-5-1

No rules, really. Just a kickabout

With nothing to be won

Except respect. We all showed pictures,

I learned his baby’s name.

Now clear the lines of this poem

And let’s get on with the game.

No white penalty spot, this morning,

The players are all unknown.

You can see them in the graveyards

In teams of forgotten stone;

The nets are made of tangled wire,

No Man’s Land is the pitch,

A flare floodlights the moments

Between the dugouts and the ditch.

A hundred winters ago sky opened

To the sunshine of the sun

Shining on these teams of players

And the sounds of this innocent game.

All these boys want to hear today

Is the final whistle. Let them walk away.

It has been so cold. The lines

Of these poems will be found, written

In the unforgotten mud like a team sheet.

Remember them. Read them again.