How did "Oh when the Spurs... Go Marching In..." originate?
Where did it come from?
It seems rather weird (at least it does to this Atheist Spurs fan) how Spurs and religion became somewhat intertwined: the two signature songs "Glory, Glory..." and "Oh when the Spurs..."; the "Yid" nickname; and the "Spurs Angels" were all deeply rooted in religion. Even the Club itself is often associated with the Jewish community, although that may be somewhat overstated.
I don't write a lot about football related matters - despite it being a life-long passion - but my memory was jogged by a recent e-mail exchange I had with Martin Cloake about the book he co-authored with Alan Fisher:
"People's History of Tottenham Hotspur: How Spurs Fans Shaped the Identity of One of the World’s Most Famous Clubs".
I'm going use some of the material I sent to Martin here.
In their excellent book Cloake and Fisher accurately recorded the origin of the Spurs song "Glory Hallelujah" but did not offer anything about the origin of the other principle song, "Oh when the Spurs Go Marching In". I guess there are not too many of us fans from the sixties still around who still remember that.
Glory glory...
The authors were correct in writing that "Glory Hallelujah" was first sung at Spurs' first ever home European competition match against Gornik Zabreze on 20th September 1961. Tottenham were League Champions and I covered in this post how Spurs fanatics Dave Casey, Mick Curley and Peter Kirby cleverly but respectfully caricatured religion to suit the occasion after Spurs were accused of dirty tactics in Poland.
The Angels lifted the crowd by parading around the pitch perimeter before the game, carrying banners with slogans politely borrowed from religion, urging the crowd of 56,000 to "Lift Up Thy Voices" in defence of the Spurs players.
The Spurs Angels
Peter Kirby, Mick Curley & Dave Casey.
(Unattributed image copied from THFC website).
It worked and that was the night that "Glory, Glory, Hallelujah...and the Spurs Go Marching On" was born, as Cliff Jones scored a hat-trick and Spurs won 8-1. To this day I never heard of Gornik Zabreze again.
Oh When the Spurs....
The next question, you might ask, is how did "When the Spurs Go Marching In" get started?
I can solve that mystery, because I remember it well.
Fast forward another year to 1962. Spurs had retained the FA Cup (and would have won the double for the second year in a row but for a surprise home loss to Ipswich Town). So we entered the European Cup-Winners Cup. The first round, first leg was on 31st October 1962. We were drawn against Glasgow Rangers and a large contingent of their supporters optimistically made the trip to White Hart Lane.
The Angels were there too, raising the crowd.
I think I stood in the East Stand Enclosure that night - or maybe it was the Park Lane end - and there was a big group of very vocal Rangers fans standing on the terraces below the Shelf waving banners. During the match they sang numerous times:
"Oh when the 'Gers, go marching in.....".
Clearly it was a song which they had sung as a group many times before. Spurs fans picked up on it though, converting it into our own "Oh when the Spurs, go marching in....." - and the rest is history.
The Rangers fans weren't singing when they left, because we walloped them 5-2, with the legendary John White scoring twice against his fellow countrymen. Credit to them though, we pinched their song - and then the Man. United fans snitched it from us. Southampton also have their own version now - but they were in the Second Division at the time. When they came to WHL in the late sixties after promotion I don't remember them singing it, so maybe they stole it from us that day.
Prior to 1962, there was no organised singing by fans that I can recall but those two songs, which were destined to become the Spurs anthems, were a catalyst. Those who most wanted to sing started congregating together in the Park Lane lower terrace and began making a lot of coordinated noise. More songs were introduced and attracted more people joined them. It was not just the birth of the anthems, it was also the origin of the Park Laners.
McNamara's Band....
The third piece of music forever used by Spurs is MacNamara's Band.
I recall it always being played by the brass band at matches in the fifties and my Dad told me that it had a very long association with the club, although the crowd never sang the lyrics as far as I know. I have no idea how this tune become so intimately associated with Spurs and I'd love to hear if anyone knows how or when it did so.
It is still played today.
Spurs Angels...
My previous article about the Spurs Angels can be found here.
Casey, Curley and Kirby should be recognised for their amazing contribution to the Spurs European campaigns of 61/62 and 62/63 and their organised effort to get FA Cup Final ticket justice for fans.
Whilst it is becoming less likely that I will ever see the new Stadium myself, I would hope and expect that in the event that I do get there one day, I would see, somewhere inside, a nod to the legacy of the three Angels. I'm proud to have associated with them for a couple of years and I wonder where they are now. Not in prison I hope:
The Herald
Shutterstock image
I'm a Spurs fan who migrated to Australia in 1970 after watching Spurs regularly since 1956.
I cannot be contacted through this antiquated blog site.
I can receive private messages via the contact page of my more modern astronomy website: Cosmic Focus
I can also be contacted via twitter: @Ggreybeard.
🙃