"Go England" is an English 2002

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

performed by The England Boys. It was written by the

Virgin Radio Virgin Radio launched in the United Kingdom in 1993. In 2008, Virgin Radio UK was sold to TIML, a subsidiary of The Times of India group, and the name was changed to Absolute Radio; the Virgin Radio name was not included in the sale. In 2001, ...

Daryl Denham Daryl Denham is a British disc jockey, radio presenter and songwriter. Early career Denham's career started at school, where he was active in producing pop music productions in school concerts, organizing pop quizzes and writing and performing p ...

and published by

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

as an adaptation of

The Jam The Jam were an English mod revival/ punk rock band formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December ...

's 1980 "

Going Underground "Going Underground" is a single by The Jam, released in March 1980. It debuted at number one in the UK Singles Chart, spending three weeks at the top. "Going Underground" was the first of four number one singles the band were to achieve throu ...

" song to support the

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

at the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea ...

. The song entered the British charts and reached a peak of 26 in the singles charts.

History

"Going Underground" was written in 1980. The frontman of The Jam,

Paul Weller Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/ mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul m ...

had hoped that he could adapt his music to fit a football song to support the England national football team at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Weller gave permission to Daryl Denham to write new lyrics to adapt "''Going Underground''" into a football song in April 2002. "Go England" was created as a result and was performed by the England Boys, a band which comprised a number of Virgin Radio staff and presenters which was fronted by Denham. The song was intended to be used as the official fan's anthem for England at the tournament. However that commission from

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

went to "

We're on the Ball "We're on the Ball" is a single by British pop and television duo Ant & Dec, released in 2002. It was the second of three comeback performances since their musical career ended in 1997, and their only studio recording since. "We're on the Ball" ...

" by

Ant & Dec Ant & Dec are a British television presenting duo, consisting of Anthony McPartlin (born 18 November 1975) and Declan Donnelly (born 25 September 1975), from Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Formed after their meeting as child actors on CBBC's dr ...

Release

"Go England" was released as a single in June 2002 with the CD release containing the original song as well as a commentary and karaoke mix. The song first entered 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 ...

on 8 June 2002 at number 26 however it charted below competing football songs; "

Hey! Baby "Hey! Baby" is a song written by Margaret Cobb and Bruce Channel, first recorded at Clifford Herring Studios in Ft. Worth Tx, and recorded by Channel in 1961, first released on LeCam Records, a local Fort Worth, Texas label. After it hit, it wa ...

" by

DJ Ötzi Gerhard "Gerry" Friedle (born 7 January 1971), better known by his stage name DJ Ötzi (), is an Austrian pop and Schlager singer. Successful mainly in German-speaking countries, he is best known in the English-speaking world for his 2000 single ...

and "

Goldenballs (Mr Beckham to You) Bell & Spurling are an English musical duo. Consisting of Martin Bell and Johnny Spurling, they formed in the 1990s and are best known for the single, "Sven, Sven, Sven", which reached number seven in the UK Singles Chart in October 2001.They al ...

" by

Bell & Spurling Bell & Spurling are an English musical duo. Consisting of Martin Bell and Johnny Spurling, they formed in the 1990s and are best known for the single, "Sven, Sven, Sven", which reached number seven in the UK Singles Chart in October 2001.They al ...

. The following two weeks it fell to numbers 46 and 52 before exiting the charts after three weeks.

References

External links

The official music video
{{authority control 2002 songs England at the 2002 FIFA World Cup The Jam Virgin Radio (UK) Football songs and chants Mercury Records singles England national football team songs