"Nice One Cyril" is a single by Cockerel Chorus written by

Harold Spiro Harold Jacob Spiro (25 June 1925 – 11 December 1996) was an English songwriter. He is best known for his co-writing with Valerie Avon, particularly the song " Long Live Love" (1974) performed by Olivia Newton-John, which was the UK's entry i ...

and Helen Clarke. The song title is a reference to

Cyril Knowles Cyril Barry Knowles (13 July 1944 – 30 August 1991) was a footballer who played left-back for Tottenham Hotspur and England. He was the son of the rugby league footballer; Cyril Knowles, and the older brother of fellow professional footballe ...

, a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

who played for

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

. It was released before the

1973 Football League Cup Final The 1973 Football League Cup Final was held on 3 March 1973 and was won by Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs beat Norwich City 1–0 at the old Wembley. Match Summary The only goal of the game was scored by substitute Ralph Coates Ralph Coates (26 Ap ...

where Tottenham played

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

. It reached No. 14 on the British single chart after Tottenham won, and its writers Spiro and Clarke received an

Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...

for Best Novel or Unusual Song in 1974.

Origin

In 1972, Wonderloaf Bread created a television advertising campaign written by

Peter Mayle Peter Mayle ( "mail"; 14 June 1939 – 18 January 2018) was a British businessman turned author who moved to France in the 1980s. He wrote a series of bestselling memoirs of his life there, beginning with ''A Year in Provence'' (1989). Early li ...

with the slogan "Nice one, Cyril", where the slogan was used to congratulate a baker named Cyril for baking a good loaf of bread. The slogan was picked by fans of the football club Tottenham Hotspur, who chanted "Nice one Cyril" to praise a Tottenham player named Cyril Knowles.

, a fan of the club, wrote the song with Helen Clarke based on the slogan. They also used the tune of the folk song " Farewell, Ladies" for the chorus. The song was performed by the Cockerel Chorus (the cockerel is the emblem of Tottenham Hotspur) fronted by Spiro, with Jamie Phillips singing the opening operatic part. It is also the first professional recording of future

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

drummer

Nicko McBrain Michael Henry "Nicko" McBrain (born 5 June 1952) is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden since 1982. Having played in small pub bands since 1966 from the age of 14, McBrain paid his bills after grad ...

Chart performance

The song was released in 1973 before Tottenham reached the League Cup Final. It entered the chart at No. 43 on 24 February 1973. It peaked at No. 14 a month later after Tottenham won the League Cup 1–0 against Norwich on 3 March 1973.

Popular culture

Due to the popularity of the TV slogan and the song, "Nice one Cyril" became a popular catchphrase in the 1970s used to praise someone. In

Cockney rhyming slang Rhyming slang is a form of slang word construction in the English language. It is especially prevalent among Cockneys in England, and was first used in the early 19th century in the East End of London; hence its alternative name, Cockney rhymin ...

it was adopted to mean "squirrel", and it was the title of the autobiography of

Cyril Fletcher Cyril Fletcher (25 June 1913 – 2 January 2005) was an English comedian, actor and businessman. His catchphrase was 'Pin back your lugholes'. He was best known for his "Odd Odes", which later formed a section of the television show ''That's ...

. The phrase continued to be used in later decades, but limited to those named Cyril or similar; the refrain of the song "Nice one Cyril, nice one son" was used as a tribute to another footballer

Cyrille Regis Cyrille Regis, MBE (9 February 1958 – 14 January 2018) was a professional footballer who played as a forward. His professional playing career spanned 19 years, where he made 614 league appearances and scored 158 league goals, most prolifically ...

in 2018. The "Nice one Cyril" chant used by Tottenham fans for Cyril Knowles is also used for another Tottenham player

Son Heung-min Son Heung-min ( ko, 손흥민; ; born 8 July 1992) is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and captains the South Korea national team. Considered one of the best forwards in ...

, reworded as "Nice one, Sonny, nice one Son / Nice one, Sonny, let’s have another one."

References

{{authority control 1973 singles Tottenham Hotspur F.C. songs Football songs and chants 1973 songs Songs about association football players Cultural depictions of association football players Cultural depictions of British men