Derby County Songs and Famous Chants: From Allez, Allez, Allez to Steve Bloomer’s Watching
It is fair to say that Derby County probably aren’t one of the teams that will most naturally spring to mind for the majority of football fans when thinking about who produces the best atmosphere, but the Rams have been just as quick to bring some decent songs to bear as other clubs up and down the country. As is so often the case, the songs are usually either filled with wit and intelligence and quick to make us laugh, or else they are about as basic as they come, with little in between. Regardless, they can help to produce a decent bit of noise when the supporters are all happy to get on board and bring their A-game to the singing of them.
Although there are definitely some ditties that are unique to Derby, there are also more than a few that are similar to those sung by other supporters of different clubs, with only minor changes introduced in order to make the song more County-specific. Similarly, some of the tunes that have been adopted by Rams supporters were first popularised by other fans before the Pride Park crew got on board and decided to come up with their own versions. Many are about players who line up for Derby County each week, coming to a close when the player in question makes the decision to depart for pastures new.
As is always the case, the list here is far from conclusive. We have opted to pick out some of the most popular ones and the best-known songs and chants, so it is entirely fair to surmise that there might be a song that you were expecting to see here that we haven’t got. It is also important to remember that the songbook brought out by supporters on a weekly basis tends to change on a regular basis, so it might well be that some of the ones that we’ve included here are a bit old hat now. Even so, it will just give you a sense of the sorts of songs that the Derby faithful are happy to sing when they’re in the mood.
Allez, Allez, Allez
First popularised by Liverpool supporters, keen to sing about the club’s exploits in ‘conquering all of Europe’, the tune soon got picked up by fans of other clubs who decided to make it their own. Obviously, most of them have been unable to sing about ‘conquering all of Europe’, so they’ve added a unique twist on the lyrics that are more in keeping with Derby County’s success, or lack thereof, in recent years.
In fact, the lyrics that the supporters belt out are a reference to the fact that they were docked 21 points in the 2021-2022 season, which saw them drop down to League One, only to climb their way back up in the seasons that followed. As with many football fans, the Derby supporters have made the points docking a point of pride, rather than something to shy away from. Here is what they sing:
Allez, allez, allez!
They docked us 21 points,
And we don’t give a fuck!
‘Cause we are Derby County
And we’ll go straight back up!
Allez, allez, allez!
Derby is On the Way
The Rams have had more than their share of difficulties and issues over the years, which has seen the club fall down the divisions and often struggle to make any kind of serious impression on the leagues that they’ve played in. As is so often the case with football supporters, this hasn’t done a huge amount to kill off, or even dampen, the spirits of those that pay to enter the ground and watch them on a weekly basis.
Perhaps one of the songs that best sums up that attitude is this one, which is about Derby County being ‘on the way’ to cause trouble and difficulties for the teams that they’re playing against. This is a tune that you might well have heard from other groups of supporters, but it feels as though it has some extra resonance coming from Derby fans, initially sung about the Championship but also changed to Premier League when needs be:
All I know is:
Derby is on the way.
We’re on the way,
On the way!
To the Championship,
We’re on our way.
How we get there,
I don’t know.
How we get there,
I don’t care.
All I know is:
Derby is on the way!
(Repeat)
Derby are Massive
If you wanted to be a grammatical snob, you might well wonder why Derby ‘is’ on the way in one song and ‘are’ massive in another, but it’s not exactly outrageous to suggest that most football fans don’t pay that much attention to that kind of contradiction.
Instead, they want to get behind their team and offer some atmosphere during matches in the hope that it will give the players a lift to help them get the points on the board. It is a song that manages to create exactly that sense of atmosphere, whilst also not really being true. Here is what people chant:
Derby are massive,
Everywhere they go,
Everywhere they go!
Derby are massive,
Everywhere they go,
Everywhere they go!
Derby are massive,
Everywhere they go,
Everywhere they go!
(Repeat)
Since I Was Young
Most of the songs sung by Derby County supporters are reasonably easy to understand where they’ve come from, but in the case of Since I Was Young, no one really knows exactly where it originated. In reality, a lot of teams have their own version of it, altered and changed to make it more specifically about them.
For Derby, the song really began to take off during the 2013-2014 season and has been sung with gusto ever since. It isn’t exactly the most verbose or complex chant to figure out, but in some ways that is what makes it such an ideal one to belt out when the team needs a better atmosphere to be created. Here is how it goes:
Since I was young,
I followed the:
D.C.F.C!
The team for me!
Steve Bloomer’s Watching
Ahead of kick-off of matches at Pride Park, as well as occasionally at away matches, supporters will engage in a song about the club’s best ever goalscorer, Steve Bloomer. He found the net 291 times across 473 games for the Rams, coming across two spells for the club that were separated by a period in which he played for Middlesbrough.
He died on the 16th of April 1938 of bronchitis, aged 64. He remains well loved by Derby’s fans, which is why the idea that he’s watching over the club is something that resonates with many. The idea that one of the club’s greatest ever footballers continues to cast an eye over proceedings certainly gets the atmosphere going when it is sung with full gusto. Here are the lyrics, which are sung to the tune of Up There Cazaly, although it’s fair to say that not all of them are sung all of the time:
Our history’s full of legends and football played on high.
Raich Carter, Peter Doherty, you should’ve seen ’em fly.
Now we all just love football, but will we lift the crown?
The noise goes up, the Rams come out, onto the hallowed ground.
Steve Bloomer’s watchin’, helping the fight.
Guiding our heroes in the black and the white.
All teams who come here, there’s nowhere to hide.
Everyone is frightened of that Derby pride.
The Rams just play football that makes our hearts so proud.
McFarland and Hector were names to thrill the crowd.
And if you love or hate us, just wait until we score.
The ball goes in, the stands light up and howl the might roar.
Steve Bloomer’s watchin’, helping the fight.
Guiding our heroes in the black and the white.
All teams who come here, there’s nowhere to hide.
Everyone is frightened of that Derby pride.
Steve Bloomer’s watchin’, helping the fight.
Guiding our heroes in the black and the white.
All teams who come here, there’s nowhere to hide.
Everyone is frightened of that Derby pride.
The Rams are a coming.
We’re out there to win.
Playing like fury, they won’t let them in.
Home sides be wary of our heart and our soul.
We’re searching for glory and victory is our goal.
Steve Bloomer’s watchin’, helping the fight.
Guiding our heroes in the black and the white.
All teams who come here, there’s nowhere to hide.
Everyone is frightened of that Derby pride.
DERBY!