Will Grigg’s on Fire! Ten more fantastic fan chants after Wigan song sensation

A song about pies? Only in Yorkshire. Football fans sometimes have more than sport on their mind – food to be precise. Bradford City fans’ off-the-cuff chanting caught national attention in a derby duel with Doncaster Rovers in 2015, as they turned their attention from the game to a man… tucking into a pie.

“He’s eating pie!,” the observant Bantams fans bellowed before questioning “Has he got some sauce?… He’s got some brown!” – improvisation at its finest. Check out the chant below.

“His Name is Rio”

Former England and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand did deserve a little flak for missing his drug’s test back in 2003 – and boy did he get plenty of stick for his faux pas from former club West Ham United.

The Hammers fans, who had seen their academy product switch to Leeds United and then the Red Devils with scant regard for rivalry, came up with this catchy ditty inspired by Duran Duran track ‘Rio’ and it caught on big time.

Irons’ supporters surprisingly good-natured lyrics about the centre back’s ban went a little something like this: “His name is Rio and he watches from the stand.” classy and catchy.

We had trouble tracking down this terrace tune, but you can listen to Duran Duran’s hit here to get the idea:

“That’s Zamora”

Ex-Brighton and Hove Albion striker and former Fulham cult hero Bobby Zamora is another player to be honoured with somewhat of a back-handed complement, as fans are always in full voice for ‘That’s Zamora.’

While the Seagulls praise their striker with lines like this: “When the ball hits the goal, it’s not Shearer or Cole, it’s Zamora”, the less impressed Cottagers give it their own more popular twist – “When you’re sat in row Z, and the ball hits your head, that’s Zamora, that’s Zamora.” We think we prefer the latter version, while fans of 1950s star Dean Martin will recognise the original as Italian-American inspired hit ‘That’s Amore.’

Here is the more complimentary version:

“All About That Ace”

Now we turn to tennis, as football fans are not the only ones capable of riffing on popular music. Noted for their flamboyant nature and bright yellow presence court-side, Australia’s super fan group regularly ruffle stuffy feathers as they support homegrown tennis stars and other Aussie sporting heroes around the globe.

Here is their clever take on pop-dance track ‘All About That Bass’ by Meghan Trainor, re-jinked with a tennis twist to “It’s all about the ace, ’bout the ace, no double.”

‘King of the Swingers’

Cricket spectators also like to get in on the action, they’re not just about afternoon teas you know. Lauded Leeds-born bowler Matthew Hoggard of England, Yorkshire and Leicestershire fame, of course had his very own tribute to his in-swinging antics, to keep supporters warm during rainy days.

Apt at the moment due to the recent release of a live-action The Jungle Book film by Disney, Hoggard is inserted into character King Louie’s song ‘King of the Swingers’.

Enjoy the lyrics…“Now Hoggy’s the King of the swingers, an England VIP. He has a bowl, we have a song, the Aussies out by tea.

“Oohh Oohh Oohh, I wanna bowl like you-ou-ou. Don’t wanna bat like you, just bowl like you do-o-o.”

The original, Disney version will have to do:

White stripes cross sports boundaries

Of course, a couple of songs are so popular they cross over to other singing sporting fandoms, with a great example being everyone’s favourite ‘Seven Nation Army’ by US band the White Stripes.

The song itself is used frequently at football matches across Europe, is PDC darts superstar Michael van Gerwen’s walk-on tune and even used across the pond in the NBA. Though, it is perhaps most well-known on English shores after being adapted by Manchester United fans to celebrate now former striker Robin van Persie, who helped fire the Red Devils to their 20th Premier League title in 2013.

All together now: “Ohhh Robin van Persie!”

‘Yaya/Kolo Toure’

Another excellent fan interpretation that has spread from football to darts is the song for Ivory Coast duo and brothers Yaya and Kolo Toure. Both once at Manchester City before Kolo moved to Liverpool, the song is believed to have been coined by Sky Blues support before the Reds got in on the act.

Chanted to the tune of trance track ‘No Limit’ from 2 Unlimited, PDC darts fans soon adopted it too, just for laughs! Watch the Toure brothers’ reaction to the progression of the song below…

‘Stuck in the Middle Giroud’

Staying with quirky football fans, this one is also a Coral favourite from Arsenal fans, who adapted 70s Stealers Wheel song ‘Stuck in the Middle with You’ for striking star Olivier Giroud.

Gunners vocalists can adapt this ditty, which celebrates their attacking stars, to whoever is playing alongside France frontman Giroud, with our favourite variation being “Podolski to the left of me, Walcott to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle Giroud.”

Though these singing school children seem to prefer the song featuring Santi Cazorla and Mesut Ozil too, so who are we to argue?

‘The Greasy Chip Butty Song’

Most famously associated with Yorkshire club Sheffield United, food also gets a mention here as the Blades fans take John Denver’s music to ‘Annie’s Song’ and use it to celebrate hallmarks of local life, with cigarettes, a night out in Sheffield and, yep, chip butties all getting a nod in the tweaked lyrics.

Rotherham United also claim plaudits for the song, but hey it’s gone global and it’s all Yorkshire anyway…

‘We’ve got Payet, Dimitri Payet’

You guessed it, this is another one by those creative West Ham fans, and the Irons now present an excellent rendition of Billy Ray Cyrus’ ‘Achy Breaky Heart’ (yes, that is Miley Cyrus’ dad) for the Hammers’ favourite Frenchman Dimitri Payet.

The playmaker certainly deserves the adoration after a stellar season and now heads to Euro 2016 on home soil with Les Bleus. We wonder if French fans will start singing: “We’ve got Payet, Dimitri Payet, I just don’t think you understand. He’s Super Slav’s man, he’s better than Zidane.” Let’s hope he doesn’t break their hearts, with France at 11/4 with Coral to win Euro 2016.

Related

Stop by our trivia section for more fun features.