World Cup 1966 Soccer Songs Nostalgia: Part Four

                                  Lonnie Donegan - World Cup Willy - ARFURSEK GEETEE                    

 Dear Andy,

Mascot - World Cup 1966

I've just remembered two more songs relating to football.  The first is a Scottish song called Football Crazy (sometimes called Fitba' Crazy in the vernacular) which was recorded by the Joe Gordon Folk Four in 1960 and covered by several other artists, including Robin Hall and Jimmie Macgregor.

The second is the truly dreadful World Cup Willie (*World Cup 1966) recorded by Lonnie Donegan in 1966 which, thankfully, sank without trace until it appeared on retrospective CD sets in recent years.

Another piece of football trivia is the fact that my maternal grandfather, Thomas Currie, played football for Kilmarnock and Blaydon Wednesday around the late 1890s/early 1900s, according to family legend.

Thomas Currie

I have tried to find confirmation of this online, without success, and any relatives who might have known for sure are now, alas, dead.

Best wishes, 

Allan.

England, UK
June, 2014.

***************

Dear Allan,

Yes World Cup Willy is familiar and so are some of the images by Arfursek GeeTee on You Tube (above), having been in London many times and seeing some of the football memorabilia in sports shops in the city.

A Hill Climb in Aberdeen, Scotland, 1982.

I have never heard of Football Crazy, the Scottish football song you mentioned but know Loch Lomond (who hasn't), learning it as a teen at St. Andrew's.  We've been so colonized that Scottish influence was strong. We even had a Singapore Girl Pipers band? 

I was trying to impress a university welcome group in 1982 at the U of Aberdeen by singing Loch Lomond when they  had asked about my stay in their city. It was only later that I learned the tune had been adapted to become one of Scotland's football songs.

Sincerely,

Andy.

Anyone remember the above song or World Cup 1966? Do write in.

Images: Allan Thompson, Andy Lim and Google.
You Tube Video: ARFURSEK GEETEE  

*The 1966 FIFA World Cup, the eighth staging of the World Cup, was held in England from 11 to 30 July. England clinched the cup beating West Germany 4–2 in the final at Wembley Stadium.