"Stan's World Cup Song", also known as "Aye Aye Ippy The Germans Bombed Our Chippy", is a song by English comedian

Stan Boardman Stanley Boardman (born 7 December 1937) is an English comedian. Early life and career Boardman was evacuated with his family to Wrexham during the Second World War, and after the family returned to their Merseyside home mistakenly thinking the ...

. It is set to the tune of "

She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain" (sometimes referred to as "Coming 'Round the Mountain") is a traditional folk song often categorized as children's music. The song is derived from the Christian spiritual known as "When the Chariot Comes". ...

" and the

Dambusters March ''The Dam Busters March'' is the theme to the 1955 British war film '' The Dam Busters''. The musical composition, by Eric Coates, has achieved the distinction of becoming synonymous with both the film and the real Operation Chastise. ''The Dam ...

. It was released to coincide with the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

History

Boardman came up with the idea of writing his own World Cup song because he thought that some of them were "lousy". He then wrote the song and designed a CD cover for it and contacted a friend of his to help record it. The song was first performed in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

on 28 April 2006. Boardman stated that if the song made it to no. 1 in the UK charts, he would donate half of the profits to charity. The song's line "The Germans bombed our chippy" was based on a real incident when Boardman's local

fish and chip shop A fish and chip shop, sometimes referred to as a chip shop, is a (often fast food) restaurant that specialises in selling fish and chips. Usually, fish and chip shops provide takeaway service, although some have seating facilities. Fish and c ...

was destroyed by a bomb dropped by the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

in the

Liverpool Blitz The Liverpool Blitz was the heavy and sustained bombing of the English city of Liverpool and its surrounding area, during the Second World War by the German ''Luftwaffe''. Liverpool was the most heavily bombed area of the country, outside Lo ...

Charts

The song was released in late May 2006. It made its debut in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

at 19 before rising to 15 the next week. The song initially placed above England's official World Cup song

World at Your Feet "World at Your Feet" is a song by English rock band Embrace from the re-released version of their fifth studio album, ''This New Day'' (2006). It was the official song of the England World Cup squad in the 2006 FIFA World Cup campaign, and was ...

. In the

UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rele ...

, the song reached number 1 in the week beginning 5 June 2006.

Reception

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

received the song negatively because they didn't want to support any song perceived as "anti-German". It was reported that

players

Jamie Carragher James Lee Duncan Carragher (; born 28 January 1978) is an English football pundit and former footballer who played as a defender for Premier League club Liverpool during a career which spanned 17 years. A one-club man, he was Liverpool's vic ...

and

Steven Gerrard Steven George Gerrard (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player, who most recently managed club Aston Villa. Described by pundits and fellow professionals as one of his generation's greatest players, Ge ...

with former Liverpool player,

Michael Owen Michael James Owen (born 14 December 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker for Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Stoke City, as well as for the England national team. Since r ...

sang the song during an

England national football team The England national football team has represented England in international Association football, football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in Engl ...

training camp coach. Singer

Tony Christie Anthony Fitzgerald (born 25 April 1943), known professionally as Tony Christie, is an English musician, singer and actor. He is best known for his recording of "(Is This the Way To) Amarillo "(Is This the Way to) Amarillo" is a song writt ...

described the song as "just a vehicle for Stan and his German 'jokes'". In 2010, Boardman released an updated version of Stan's World Cup Song entitled "Stan's World Cup Song – Africa 2010" for the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

, with the CD sales going to

Help for Heroes Help for Heroes (H4H) is a British charity which provides lifelong recovery support to British Armed Forces service personnel who have been wounded or injured in the line of duty, and to their families, originally only since 11 September 2001, th ...

.{{cite web , url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/stan-boardman-celebrates-35-years-3422530 , title=Stan Boardman celebrates 35 years in showbusiness with 2010 World Cup record , work=Liverpool Echo , date=2010-05-07 , accessdate=2014-05-12

References

Association football songs and chants 2006 songs England at the 2006 FIFA World Cup England national football team songs