Glory Glory (football chant)

The Scottish club Hibernian may be the first club to release the song as a single; "Glory, Glory to the Hibees" by Hector Nicol is believed to have been recorded in the late 1950s.[1][2] In English football, Tottenham Hotspur is thought to be the first English club to sing the song as a football chant in 1960 when they prevented Wolves from achieving the double in April 1960, but became a popular chant for the club in 1961.[3] Other notable clubs to adopt the song as a football anthem include Leeds United and Manchester United.[3]

"Glory, Glory, Hallelujah" became a popular song amongst Tottenham fans in the early 1960s and is still an anthem for the club today. Although it may have been sung before by their fans, the popular use of the tune by Tottenham Hotspur began in September 1961 during the 1961–62 European Cup in the home match against the Polish side Górnik Zabrze. The Polish press had previously described the Spurs team as "no angels" due to their rough tackling during the away match. In the return leg at White Hart Lane, some fans then dressed themselves in angel costumes at the match holding placards with slogans such as 'Glory be to shining White Hart Lane' and 'Rejoice! This is the night of vengeance'. The crowded started singing the refrain "Glory Glory Hallelujah" when Spurs beat the Poles 8–1, and in so doing starting the tradition at Tottenham.[4] The song was subsequently recorded by the members of the 1967 FA Cup-winning team and included in the EP, The Spurs Go Marching On.[5]

For the 1981 FA Cup Final, the Tottenham Hotspur squad together with Chas & Dave recorded the song "Glory, Glory, Tottenham Hotspur" and released it as the B side to the single "Ossie's Dream (Spurs Are on Their Way to Wembley)".[6]

"Glory Glory Leeds United" was released as a single (Columbia DB8506)[7] by Ronnie Hilton in 1968 to celebrate Leeds United's League Cup and Inter-Cities Fairs Cup successes, which are referenced in the lyrics. The song's lyrics also reference former player, Billy Bremner and Don Revie. The lyrics also mention Mike Summerbee and George Best in the opening. In the absence of any official release by the team, the song became Leeds' unofficial 1970 FA Cup Final song.

"Glory Glory Man United" was a single released by the Manchester United squad prior to the 1983 FA Cup Final. It was written by Frank Renshaw, who was a member of Herman's Hermits in the 1970s and 1980s. It was recorded at Strawberry Studios in Stockport with the football team and some of Renshaw's friends – Renshaw's son Lee also sang on the recording.[8]

Manchester United fans have been singing this song since the early 1980s. In the 1990s, it became popular among opposition supporters to manipulate the words of the song when playing Manchester United to "Who the fuck are Man United?", which Man United supporters sarcastically sung themselves after scoring, or while winning, against a rival team.

Glory Glory Man United was also the name of the official club poster magazine, launched in 1994 and published every four weeks, totalling 13 issues a year.[9] In 2007 its average reader age was 13 years 2 months.[9]

In 2007, a full length version of Glory Glory Man United was written in the style the battle hymn of the republic. The song recorded by "The World Red Army" and produced by Will Robinson and Michael Graves became the[10] official song at Old Trafford. Ten years on and The World Red Army recorded a further version called Glory Glory Man United 2 which had a few lyric changes to update the anthem to the current United team.[11]

In Australia, "Glory Glory to South Sydney" is used by the South Sydney Rabbitohs an Australian rugby league club. The song mentions all the teams in the competition when the song was written, and says what Souths did to them when they played. Each verse ends with, "They wear the Red and Green".[12][13][14]

• The Battle Hymn of the Republic: Other songs set to this tune
• List of UK hit singles by footballers