A-Z Of Sporting Songs/Chants | Vital Football

A-Z Of Sporting Songs/Chants

C - "Can you hear us on the box?" chant at rare televised Millers games. (Tune: "Bread of heaven"). Popular in the 70/80s when far less football was on tv. Also sung by many other lower division fans, usually for a home cup tie against more glamorous opponents.
 
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Remember years ago, we were playing Man City at home., and they spent most of the match passing back to their keeper (Joe Corrigan).
At one point in the 2nd half, they'd gone a few minutes without passing back, and our crowd started chanting ''Corrigan wants his ball back'', at which point Joe Corrigan turned to us and clapped.

So, i'll 'do' a 'C' - Corrigan wants his ball back.
 
D - Delilah. Sung by Stoke City fans since the 1980s. It has been claimed that at an away game against Derby, the police told a group of Potters fans in a pub not to sing any songs that contained swear words . The fans realised that would severely limit their repertoire, but somebody had put" Delilah" on the jukebox and so they sang along with that instead. Then they continued singing it when they got to the ground. Sounds plausible.

I'm sure that once when I was at a Millers away game at Bristol Rovers, the Gasheads fans started singing "Delilah" at half-time, but that might have been due to the name/nickname of somebody who was celebrating a birthday, and it had been announced on the tannoy system. Don't know if they sang it on a regular basis.
 
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E - "E for B and Denis Leigh!".
Based on the "E for B and Georgie Best" advert produced by the British Egg Marketing Board. "E for B" was an abbreviation for "Eggs for Breakfast" and George Best (who I met at Millmor before the famous Man. U. cup tie) was in the advert.
The original slogan didn't really make sense, but the Millers version was usually sung on the Tivoli after a Denis Leigh free kick or penalty had been powerfully blasted into the back of the net.
 
I'd forgotten the Georgie Best egg advert until you jogged my memory, Mike. Forever my favourite footballer and I used to collect all memorabilia about him in the 60's and 70's even used to cut up my Auntie's catalogue that he modelled for! (Sometimes before she'd finished with it!)

F From Me To You - a version of this is sung on the Anfield Kop - the words being something like ...

if there’s any team that you want
it’s the Anfield crew
just call on Klopp, to deliver his boys
the Reds from Liverpool.
 
H Hey, Hey, Ricky - sang by the Barmy Army at cricket

Hey Hey Ricky, what you gonna do? Hey Hey Ricky, get on your kangaroo
We are taking the Ashes back they don't belong to you
Cos we are the Barmy Army , we're England through and through

 
J Jerusalem . Often sung before England cricket test matches. Lyrics written by radical poet William Blake, as a tribute to the French Revolution. Long lasting popularity - even Emerson , Lake and Palmer did a version of it!
 
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My other half used to sing Jerusalem in the Cross Keys every Christmas Eve - also recorded it for my Mum when she was Chairperson of her local WI.

K Knocking At The Door - become a pump-up jam for athletes
 
L Liquidator - Instrumental by the ska band Harry J All Stars. Most famously used as team run-out music for Chelsea, with their fans singing "Chelsea" and clapping along to a bit of it. Fans from Wycombe, Northampton, Wolves and St. Johnstone have all claimed to have used it before Chelsea. Never been to see St. Johnstone play , but I can't remember the others using it at matches that I have attended. They probably don't play it at those grounds any more.
With the current situation of clubs going bankrupt the"Liquidator" has never been more topical.
 
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M Men Of Harlech - the Welsh sing it a lot! Was once at Millmoor when Cardiff packed out the Railway End and they started humming this song and it got louder and louder - it was impressive but a bit scary too as I thought they might come charging over the half-way line aka Zulu!
 
N Na Na, Hey Hey , Kiss Him Goodbye - Originally a one-off hit for the American group, Steam.
Absolute Tivoli classic as "Na na na na, Na na na na, Hey hey hey, Trevor Phillips!" ... or Womble. Difficult to think of many songs from the Tivoli that could top it.

Additional -Just checked out the original version, the Supremes version, and the Bananarama version. All tuneful in their own way, but can't match the sheer intensity of the song as sung on the Tivoli!
 
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When I hear the N Na Na Hey Hey song on radio I always, always, sing Trevor Phillips!

P Put 'Em Under Pressure - the Republic of Ireland's 1990 World Cup song
 
Q Que sera sera - Whatever will be will be, we're going to Wemb-er-lee, que sera sera...

Not even needed last season!

By the way, manager Lennie Lawrence once said in a post-match interview.... "It was a case of deja vu - whatever will be will be"
 
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Got two sayings for the price of one there!

R Roth-er-ham, Roth-er-ham, Roth-er-ham, Roth-er-ham

Not the most imaginative but one dear to our Millers' hearts