"Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi" is a cheer or chant often performed at Australian sport events. It is a variation of the " Oggy Oggy Oggy, oi oi oi" chant used by both

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

fans in Great Britain from the 1960s onwards. It is usually performed by a

crowd A crowd is as a group of people that have gathered for a common purpose or intent. Examples are a Demonstration (people), demonstration, a Sport, sports event, or a looting (classified in sociology as an acting crowd). A crowd may also simply ...

uniting to support a sports team or athlete. The alternate is for an individual to chant the line "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!" and the crowd to respond with " Oi! Oi! Oi!".

Definition

The full version of the chant, as heard prior to a free outdoor concert at the time of the Sydney 2000 Olympics and quoted by Luba Vangelova of CNNSI, is as follows: :Individual: ''"Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!"'' ::Crowd: ''"Oi! Oi! Oi!"'' :Individual: ''"Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!"'' ::Crowd: ''"Oi! Oi! Oi!"'' :Individual: ''"Aussie!"'' ::Crowd: ''"Oi!"'' :Individual: ''"Aussie!"'' ::Crowd: ''"Oi!"'' :Individual (faster): ''"Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!"'' ::Crowd (equally fast): ''"Oi! Oi! Oi!"'' The chant was widely used during the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, being heard at many public entertainment venues and also on public transport. The chant came to be commonly heard at international sporting events where an Australian team was competing.

Origins and explanation

A chant of near-identical form, " Oggy Oggy Oggy", has been used for decades by football and rugby crowds in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

. "Oggy" is believed to be short for " hoggan", a Cornish word for a pasty, and the chant was used by Cornish miners to celebrate the Cornish pasty. Members of the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

claim to have used the Oggy Oggy Oggy chant, or a version of it, since the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Englishman Ron Knox claims to have used the "Oggy" chant while playing for the Box Hill Rugby Club in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

in the late 1960s. Various conflicting stories of how it was introduced from Britain to Australia can be found. According to Stephen Alomes, a professor of Australian studies at

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974 with antecedent history since 1887, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia and a founding father of Australian Fede ...

, the chant represents "enthusiasm for the tribe" and a "celebration of 'us' ", but at the extreme may act as a symbol of aggressive nationalism and

xenophobia Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...

. In 2012, after

Foxtel NXE Australia Pty Ltd, trading as the Foxtel Group, is an Australian pay television company that operates cable television, direct-broadcast satellite, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April ...

offered a $10,000 prize in a competition for coming up with a new phrase to cheer on athletes,

Germaine Greer Germaine Greer (; born 29 January 1939) is an Australian writer and feminist, regarded as one of the major voices of the second-wave feminism movement in the latter half of the 20th century. Specializing in English and women's literature, she ...

argued: "The cry is catchy. Any crowd can pick it up and it cuts through the surrounding white noise like a military tattoo. It is as jingoistic to reject it because it was originally British as it would be to prize it for the same reason ... There will be no silencing Australian fans at the Olympics and they won't be bullied by Foxtel, either."

Commercial and publicity uses

At the closing ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympics, the IOC President, Juan Antonio Samaranch reflected the spirit of the whole affair when, during his formal speech, he said, "What can I say now? Maybe, with my Spanish accent, Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!". The response to these words came from all around the stadium, "Oi! Oi! Oi!". In 2004, a

couple, inspired by a Dick Smith campaign supporting Australian-made products, and following publicity surrounding the ownership of the trademark for the Australian-developed Ugg boots being owned by a United States company, registered the phrase as an official trademark in an effort to protect it from overseas exploitation. At the conclusion of winning the main event of the

2005 World Series of Poker The 2005 World Series of Poker opened play on June 2, continuing through the Main Event No Limit World Championship starting on July 7. The conclusion of the Main Event on July 15 marked the close of play, and the largest prize in sports and/or t ...

, Australian supporters of winner Joe Hachem chanted this victoriously during the primetime viewing of the

poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...

event on

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

. At the conclusion of the Prize giving ceremony for the 2008 Super 14 final at AMI Stadium in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, New Zealand, the winning team, the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

, chanted "Robbie Robbie Robbie Oi Oi Oi" to farewell their Coach

Robbie Deans Robert Maxwell Deans (born 4 September 1959) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player, currently the head coach of Japanese club Saitama Wild Knights. He was head coach of the Australian national team between 2008 and 2013. Deans prev ...

, who was leaving to coach the Australian national team, the Wallabies. In a promotional video for the American

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

company WWE, Australian wrestler Emma chanted the song in support of the Australia national soccer team during the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

. It is also a popular chant during Australian Cricket Team's matches. The chant is also a fixture at

men's basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

games at

Saint Mary's College of California Saint Mary's College of California is a Private college, private Catholic college in Moraga, California, United States. Established in 1863, it is administered by the De La Salle Brothers. The college offers undergraduate and graduate programs w ...

, a school that has regularly featured Australian players in the 21st century.

References

{{Reflist Chants Association football songs and chants Australian nationalism Sport in Australia Sports culture in Australia Australian slang

Definition

Origins and explanation

Commercial and publicity uses

See also

References