"Football Crazy" is a song written by James Curran, originally titled as "The Dooley Fitba' Club", in the 1880s. The song is the earliest-known song that references

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

, and it later became a minor hit in the 1960s for Scottish

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

duo

Robin Hall Robin Hall (27 June 1936 – 18 November 1998) was a Scottish folksinger, best known as half of a singing duo with Jimmie Macgregor. Hall was a direct descendant of the famous Scottish folk hero and outlaw Rob Roy MacGregor as well as of th ...

and

Jimmie Macgregor Jimmie Macgregor (born 10 March 1930) is a Scottish folksinger and broadcaster, best known as half of a singing duo with Robin Hall. Biography Jimmie Macgregor was born in Springburn, Glasgow, Scotland, and grew up in a tenement and then a ...

Background

"Football Crazy" is derived from a humorous song written by a songwriter from

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, James Curran (sometimes spelt as 'Currin') who died in 1900. He originally wrote the song as "The Dooley Fitba' Club" and it was sung by J.C. M'Donald. The song is the earliest known song which refers specifically to football. It was later adapted into the comedic "Fitba' Crazy" with many lyrical changes.

Ewan MacColl James Henry Miller (25 January 1915 – 22 October 1989), better known by his stage name Ewan MacColl, was a folk singer-songwriter, folk song collector, labour activist and actor. Born in England to Scottish parents, he is known as one of the ...

included a version of "Fitba' Crazy" in a collection of songs called ''Scotland sings'' published in 1953, and ''Personal choice by Ewan MacColl of Scottish folksongs and ballads'' in 1954. He also recorded the song for his album ''Scots Street Songs'' in 1956. In 1959, the Scots

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and

released a single based on the MacColl version. It then became a minor novelty hit in Britain in the early 1960s, largely as a result of television exposure on the BBC's ''

Tonight Tonight may refer to: Television * ''Tonight'' (1957 TV programme), a 1957–1965 British current events television programme hosted by Cliff Michelmore that was broadcast on BBC * ''Tonight'' (1975 TV programme), a 1975–1979 British current ...

'' programme. The song has been covered by various other singers, including

Rolf Harris Rolf Harris (born 30 March 1930) is an Australian entertainer whose career has encompassed work as a musician, singer-songwriter, composer, comedian, actor, painter and television personality. He often used unusual instruments in his performan ...

who released a single in 1966 to coincide with the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

held in England, and

Adam McNaughtan Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

on his 1988 album ''Words Words Words''.

In popular culture

The phrase "football crazy" came into popular use during the 1960s, following the song's success, and was extended into the common phrase it is today, often paraphrased. Amongst other things, it has been the title of: *A 1981 episode of ''

Metal Mickey Metal Mickey is a fictional five-foot-tall robot, as well as the name of a spin-off television show starring the same character. The robot character was created, controlled and voiced by Johnny Edward. The character of Metal Mickey first appe ...

'' *A 1982 episode of ''

The Goodies The Goodies were a trio of British comedians: Tim Brooke-Taylor (17 July 1940–12 April 2020), Graeme Garden (b. 18 February 1943) and Bill Oddie (b. 7 July 1941). The trio created, wrote for and performed in their eponymous television comed ...

'' *A 1994 film *A 1999 TV documentary *A 2000 episode of ''

Taggart ''Taggart'' is a Scottish detective fiction television programme created by Glenn Chandler, who wrote many of the episodes, and made by STV Studios for the ITV network. It originally ran as the miniseries "Killer" from 6 until 20 September 19 ...

'' *An ESPN TV sports show An instrumental tune written by Barry Stoller plagiarised "Football Crazy" and is used as the theme tune to BBC TV's "

Match of the Day ''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights, during the Premier League season. The show's current presenter is former England international striker Gary L ...

References

External links

* {{authority control 1880s songs Year of song unknown 1960s singles