"Nice One Cyril" is a single by Cockerel Chorus written by Harold Spiro and Helen Clarke. The song title is a reference to Cyril Knowles, a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

who played for

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. It was released before the 1973 Football League Cup Final where Tottenham played

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

. It reached No. 14 on the UK Singles Chart, after Tottenham won, and its writers Spiro and Clarke received an

Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the Welsh entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and Musical composition, composing. They have been presented annually in London by the The Ivors Academy, Ivors Academy, formerly called the Britis ...

for Best Novel or Unusual Song in 1974.

Origin

In 1972, Wonderloaf Bread created a television advertising campaign written by Peter Mayle 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. Harold Spiro, 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 music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

drummer Nicko McBrain.

Chart performance

The song was released in 1973 before Tottenham reached the League Cup Final. It entered the UK Singles 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 rhymi ...

it was adopted to mean "squirrel", and it was the title of the autobiography of Cyril Fletcher. 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 in 2018. The "Nice one Cyril" chant used by Tottenham fans for Cyril Knowles is also used for another Tottenham player Son Heung-min, 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 Association football songs and chants 1973 songs Songs about association football players Cultural depictions of association football players Cultural depictions of British people