大象传媒 Scotland - 大象传媒 Scotland - The man behind England鈥檚 first World Cup anthem proves that some Scots are able to support the 鈥榓uld enemy鈥� at the World Cup

The man behind England鈥檚 first World Cup anthem proves that some Scots are able to support the 鈥榓uld enemy鈥� at the World Cup

19 June 2018

World Cup Willie (馃攰) – performed by Scottish skiffle legend Lonnie Donegan – was the anthem for the most successful moment in England’s football history: the oft-mentioned 1966 World Cup.

Since the Scotland’s Tartan Army ended up staying home for yet another World Cup, Scottish songwriter Chris Bradley took a leaf out of Lonnie’s book and wrote a song pledging his support to England.

Scottish musician鈥檚 England World Cup song

Chris Bradley discusses his reasoning behind his song 鈥楶ut a Smile on England鈥檚 Face鈥�.

Chris’s song, Put a Smile on England’s Face, declares his support for England. And he’s urging fellow Scots to join him in backing the ‘auld enemy’.

What鈥檚 good for the goose is good for the gander

Chris Bradley

“I think there’s a misconception that [Scots are] all up here baying for [England’s] blood in the major tournaments and it’s just not true.”

Chris believes that it would benefit Scotland if England were to win the World Cup.

Obviously there are plenty of Scots who would gladly see England fail, but Chris isn’t one of them.

“I've always supported English teams; I've never questioned it.”

Lonnie and Chris are case of Scots supporting England, but there have also been notable examples of English people supporting Scotland.

Since England failed to qualify for the 1978 World Cup, swathes of English football fans found themselves supporting their northern neighbour.

Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien spoke to Edith Bowman about how he pledged his allegiance – for one summer at least – to Scotland. He even admitted that the first single he ever bought was Andy Cameron’s classic football anthem Ally’s Army.

Ed from Radiohead interview at TRNSMT

Find out why the Scotland 1978 World Cup song has a special place in his heart...

From World in Motion to Three Lions (Football’s Coming Home), England have had some brilliant songs released to coincide with their involvement in football tournaments. But it was Scotland’s Lonnie Donegan who sang the official anthem to England’s 1966 World Cup win.

Lonnie was born in Glasgow before moving with his family down to London. Although Scottish, his fame as ‘the king of skiffle’ made him the obvious choice to sing England’s World Cup Willie song.

A 30-second clip of World Cup Willie

Sadly, the song didn’t chart — but it was part of a wider marketing campaign that made cartoon lion World Cup Willie a popular mascot synonymous with England’s win at the 1966 tournament.