A Baggies Musical History: Pt 1
November 4, 2009 | Music | Tags: FA_Cup, WestBrom | 1 Comment »
You know there are some football and musical tunes which are so much better when they give a shout out to some of the current players (of the time) inside the song. Because of these name checks the track then become somewhat of a historical document.
A previous (and funny) example of this was with the (possible) KLF involvement with Huddersfield Town when they got some kid to read out the players names. A bad/sad example would be this Chelsea Hell.
Possibly the best example is brought to you via West Bromwich Albion who sang about their 1968 FA Cup Final appearance against Everton – which they won:
Pictured above: Jeff Astle and Bobby Hope hold the FA Cup aloft
Sorry…should have done a spoiler alert then. Some of you might not have known that the Baggies actually won something way back when. Ah well it’s too late now. The winner was scored by another singing footballer – Jeff Astle – three minutes into extra time.
Some facts for you fact fans, taken from the Wikipedia page:
- That goal meant that Astle had scored in every round of that season’s competition.
- The 1968 Cup final was the first final to be televised live in colour.
- Both teams wore away strips, with Everton wearing bright amber shirts and blue shorts, aping Brazil and West Bromwich Albion in white shirts and shorts with red socks.
- The first substitute to be used in an FA Cup final was Dennis Clarke for West Bromwich Albion.
Now you can go and bore people down the pub with that.
The song done to commemorate the occasion was actually recorded after the event – and the best bit – even gave a mention to the players who were injured. Ah it can’t get better than this.
 |
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. » Roy Edwards and West Bromwich Albion F.C 1968 – Albion Day |
…and a repost of Astle singing:
 |
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. |
Coming up next: 10 years later.
Follow F&M on Twitter
Will you post some Three Degrees when you write about Cyrille Regis? He was my favorite player as a child.
Interesting that both 1968 Cup finalists wore away strips.