Glory Glory Man United, and the Red go marching, on, on ,on!
You don’t hear that one as often as you used to, but it is always busted out on special occasions. I’m old enough to remember when it was a regular chant at Old Trafford and beyond. I even had a subscription to Glory Glory Man United the magazine as a kid.
You might not know this, but Manchester United weren’t the first club to use the Glory Glory lyrics. We nicked it. The tune itself dates back to the American Civil war, and if you have watched Band of Brothers you will have heard the 101st Airborne singing the same tune to their grizzly ‘Blood Upon the Risers’ song.
Spurs are widely regarded as being the first team to use it as a football chant, but Leeds United also used it before us, so it’s another thing we stole from them on top of Eric Cantona and Rio Ferdinand – no wonder they hate us!
Anyway, here’s a bit about the famous song that is so closely associated with the club.
1983 FA Cup Final Song
When Manchester United reached the 1983 FA Cup final under Big Ron Atkinson, it was their first chance of silverware in years. The club won it in 1977 a couple of seasons after being relegated, but prior to that, you would have to go back to the 1967/68 season to find a trophy. That’s 15 years of disappointment.
You can understand then why the 1983 FA Cup final felt important, and to mark the occasion, the club recorded a song. It was written by Frank Renshaw who had been a member of Herman’s Hermits in the 1970s and early 80s.
1983 FA Cup Final: Brighton & Hove Albion v Manchester United – Jimmy Melia and Ron Atkinson lead the teams out at Wembley, 21 May 1983. pic.twitter.com/H72bFBDfdT
— A Football Archive* (@FootballArchive) May 21, 2019
The first team went to Strawberry Studios in Stockport, and along with Renshaw, his team, a few of his mates, and his young son, they recorded Glory Glory Man United. It reached number 13 in the charts, but I bet they never imagined fans would still be singing it 40 years later.
Anyway, Ron Atkinson and his boys won that 1983 FA Cup final, then another in 1985, so the song stuck, and is still heavily associated with Manchester United despite other clubs having used the same song in the past.
Despite not being an original Manchester United song, it has become synonymous with the club. So much so, that rival fans even sometimes sing “Who the f**k are Man United” to the same tune. They mean it as an insult, but one could argue that they are just demonstrating what a massive club United are.
The bits about Wem-ber-ley aren’t always sung when the song makes a reappearance, but the chorus has remained a fan favourite on any occasion, and everyone from Bryan Robson to Casemiro has heard it sung at Old Trafford.
Glory Glory Man United Lyrics
Here are the lyrics, so you can have a sing along to this:
Glory glory Man united
Glory glory Man united
Glory glory Man united
As the reds go marching on on on!
Just like the busby babes in days gone by
We’ll keep the red flags flying high
Your gonna see us all from far and wide
Your gonna hear the masses sing with pride
United, Man united
We’re the boys in red and we’re on our way to Wembley!
Wembley, Wembley
We’re the famous Man united and we’re going to Wembley
Wembley, Wembley
We’re the famous Man united and we’re going to Wembley
In Seventy—Seven it was Docherty
Atkinson will make it Eighty—Three
And everyone will no just who we are
They’ll be singing que sera sera
United, Man united
We’re the boys in red and we’re on our way to Wembley!
Wembley, Wembley
We’re the famous Man united and we’re going to Wembley
Wembley, Wembley
We’re the famous Man united and we’re going to Wembley
Glory glory Man united
Glory glory Man united
Glory glory Man united
As the reds go marching on on on!
Glory glory Man united
Glory glory Man united
Glory glory Man united
As the reds go marching on on on!
Glory glory Man united
Glory glory Man united
Glory glory Man united
As the reds go marching on on on!