This article is taken from the May 2026 issue of The Critic. To get the full magazine why not subscribe? Get five issues for just £5.
When Thomas Tuchel’s men depart for America, there will not be an article in The Times that begins “That successful new pop group, the England World Cup squad, set forth today” as happened in 1970. The FA has decided there will be no team song. The days when recording a novelty single was one of the pre-tour duties have gone the way of cigarette sponsorship and comb-overs.
Sir Alf Ramsey’s side set off for Mexico at No. 3 in the charts, Moore and Charlton having bumped Simon & Garfunkel down a place with “Back Home”, a jaunty singalong by the writers behind Sandie Shaw’s “Puppet on a String” and Cliff Richard’s “Congratulations”. They could perform in the Eurovisions, but could they beat the world with a number that sounded like something they sang in the trenches in 1916?
“Back home, they’ll be thinking about us when we are far away,” crooned the squad, dressed in mismatching black tie to perform on Top of the Pops. “Back home, they’ll be really behind us in every game we play.” Bobby Moore was wearing a sky-blue shirt, whilst Bobby Charlton veered between looking thrilled and terrified. “We’ll fight until the whistle blows for the folks back home.”
The song was in its third week at No 1 by the time they began against Romania and was still at No 3 when they lost in the quarter-finals to West Germany. When Gordon Banks, who had missed that match with a stomach upset, arrived back at Heathrow, the goalkeeper was presented with a silver disc marking 250,000 sales, which must have made up for losing the Jules Rimet Trophy.
“Back Home” started a golden era of footballers’ songs. Barely an FA Cup final passed without a single between “Good Old Arsenal” in 1971, written by Jimmy Hill, and Chelsea’s “Blue Tomorrow” in 2000. Highlights include “The Boys in the Old Brighton Blue” in 1983 and “Ossie’s Dream”, written for Tottenham Hotspur in 1981 by Chas & Dave, who would later have another sporting hit with “Snooker Loopy”, starring Steve Davis, Dennis Taylor and the rest of the Matchroom Mob. Both showed lyrical virtuosity with lines like “Ossie’s going to Wembley, his knees have gone all trembly” and “Old Willie Thorne, his hair’s all gawn”. They reached Nos. 5 and 6 in the charts respectively.
Even more successful was the “Anfield Rap”, which got to No. 3 in 1988. It was written by Craig Johnston, the Liverpool and Australia midfield player, with a little help from friends such as the Beatles’ howl from “Twist and Shout” and Rodgers and Hammerstein, who supplied the “Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart” chorus.
They even got the football commentator Brian Moore to supply the lines “They’ve won the league, bigger stars than Dallas, they’ve got more silver than Buckingham Palace.” It was from a time when football didn’t take itself so seriously.
Those days are, alas, long gone. The last time there was an official England World Cup song was Embrace’s “World at Your Feet” in 2006. “There’s no one you can’t beat,” they sang. It turned out that Sweden and Portugal were two. Probably just as well that Beckham and Gerrard didn’t do Top of the Pops.
Now the FA says there is no appetite for reviving a team song. Disappointingly, the Scottish FA feel the same for their first World Cup appearance since 1998. Opinion is divided on that year’s official song: “Don’t Come Home Too Soon” by Del Amitri, the video of which featured players having a kickabout at Prestwick airport, but I find it a rather beautiful ballad. “The world may not be shaking yet, but you might prove them wrong,” Justin Currie sang. It took a Thomas Boyd own-goal for Brazil to beat them.
There’s still time for the SFA to change their mind. At a concert at the Royal Albert Hall this April, the Glasgow band Belle and Sebastian debuted a World Cup song that they called, with a nice kick at England and the Lightning Seeds, “It Only Takes One Lion”. “We’re aiming for New Order with this one,” said Stuart Murdoch, their frontman.
That was a reference to “World in Motion”, the official song for the 1990 World Cup, whose video, like “Back Home”, featured England players singing. It was originally called “E for England” but the FA rejected it, thinking (perhaps not unfairly) that it was a drugs reference. Bobby Robson, the England manager, thought it would be good bonding for six of his team to skip training to record it.
Paul Gascoigne walked into the studio clutching a bottle of Champagne. “Aye that’s a big organ,” he said, pointing to the mixing desk. Peter Hook, New Order’s bassist, recalled that Gazza necked three bottles in about an hour. John Barnes had a rap-off with Des Walker to decide who would perform on the single. When the players left they were paid in cash (£200 each) in envelopes.
The video was filmed later, just before an England friendly with Brazil. Robson was less keen but finally agreed. Barnes was injured so they had to film his rap in Liverpool, but he kept forgetting the words. It was a gloriously amateur production, yet the single got to No. 1 and England reached the semi-finals. Maybe it’s true what they say: you sing when you’re winning.
