Chants

Duh-duh-duh-duh - Michael Dawson!

Duh-duh-duh-duh - Michael Dawson!

That was the chant that went up from the Hull City end when our veteran defender and club captain Michael Dawson scored an equaliser in the last minute of Saturday's match. We had forced a 2-2 draw with Sheffield Wednesday when all had seemed lost. I was there and I was also singing "Duh-duh-duh-duh - Michael Dawson!"

Can you see me?

I have been supporting Hull City since the early sixties - through almost half of the club's history. In this time I have heard many football chants. An innocent one I remember from the mid-sixties referred to our goalkeeper Ian McKechnie, Russia's legendary keeper Lev Yashin, our brilliant striker Ken Wagstaff and  the maestro Eusebio of Portugal. The chant went like this:-

Aie-aie-aie-aie McKechnie is better than Yashin!

Waggy is better than Eusebio!

And Leeds are in for a thrashin'!

Waggy was a natural goalscorer and a great favourite of the Hull City crowd. During quiet spells in a match a single voice would often call out - "Waggy!" and then the rest of that end of the ground would shout "Oi!". Then it continued, "Waggy! Waggy! Waggy!" as the crowd responded in unison "Oi! Oi! Oi!"

Back in the sixties, the chants were innocent and supportive but as the years passed by many football chants had a deliberate taunting quality about them - goading the opposition supporters. If you scored the first goal you would rub it in with "One-nil! One-nil! One-nil!" to the tune of  "Amazing Grace" or if the opposition fans stopped singing because they were now losing you would chant: "You're not singing any more! You're not singing! You're not singing!" to the tune of "Bread of Heaven"

Michael Dawson - the current club captain

This past year the city of Hull has been Britain's "City of Culture" with a whole raft of arts events including this very day the awarding of the famous Turner Prize for Art at Hull's Ferens Gallery. It is the first time this prestigious awards process has happened anywhere outside London.

Aware of this label, Hull City supporters have been singing, slightly ironically - "We know what we are! We know what we are! City of Culture! We know what we are!" to the chorus tune for "Sloop John B".

My two favourite Hull City songs in recent times have been Elvis's "I Can't Help Falling in Love" which the crowd have adopted as an unofficial club song and the following little ditty that confirms Hull City supporters are fanatical about their club. Even though in our past we have hardly ever won anything of note, we will still support our team through thick and thin:-

"Silverware? We don't care!

We follow Hull City everywhere!"