Newcastle United Songs: Chants made famous by the Toon Army

Football fans around the world sing and chant for their teams to create atmospheres. Some clubs have unique songs, while some are generic sung by many clubs, with just a few words changed to fit the club’s identity.

The support of fans through singing and chanting can raise their team’s spirits, especially in big moments. One club’s fans who are particularly passionate about their club are Newcastle United supporters, who can turn St. James Park into a cauldron of noise during matches.

Here are a few songs and chants that are popular with the fans and are used to celebrate their club:

Going Home: Theme Of The Local Hero

The instrumental rock song was released by Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler in 1983. It was the final track on Knopfler’s solo album Local Hero. The debut solo single reached just number 56 in the UK charts, although it did reach 18 in New Zealand.

While it wasn’t a great hit when it came to the charts, the song became highly popular among Newcastle United fans. In fact, since the early 1990s, the Magpies have used it as the music they come out onto the pitch to for games.

Although born in Glasgow, Scotland, Knopfler grew up in the north east town of Blyth, close to Newcastle, so no doubt the fact that United use the song as the fans welcome the players on the pitch will fill him with pride.

Who’s that team we call United?

This a popular song sung to the tune of God Save Ireland, which goes Who’s that team we call United,

Who’s that team we all adore,

Oh, we play in Black and White,

And we all know how to fight,

We’ll support you ever more…

It is believed to have first been sung on the Newcastle Terraces in the 1960s. Over fifty years later, the song is still popular.

We are the Geordies

Like, who’s that team we call United, ‘we are the Geordies’ was first sung on the terraces in the 1960s. To the tune of ‘You Are My Sunshine’ the lyrics are:

We are the Geordies,

The Geordie Boot Boys,

For we are mental,

We are mad,

We’re the loyalist football supporters,

The world has ever had.

The ‘Geordie Boot Boys’ that the lyrics talk about in the song refers to a subculture in Newcastle that grew as an opposition to the hippie movement of the time.

Blaydon Races

It is believed to date back to the early days of the football club, but it is still popular with the fans and is still sung by the home faithful before every game at St. James Park.

The song refers to the Blaydon horse races, which took place in 1862 just outside of Newcastle and is sung to the tune of Vive la Compagnie. The races were a big local event, and fans began singing the song in support of one of the jockeys who was a local.

The song became popular amongst supporters of the football club and has been adapted many times over the years. Although it’s associated with the city’s football club, it is also synonymous with people’s life in Newcastle.

Toon Toon Black and White Army

Another favourite chant for Newcastle fans is the Toon Toon Black and White Army. It’s short and sweet, as one section of the Magpies fans shouts ‘Toon Army’ and another part of the stadium responds with ‘Black and white army’.

The song plays off the nickname for Newcastle, ‘The Toon,’ and obviously the colours that United wears as their home strip.

EIEIEIO Up the Premier League We Go

This song is one that many clubs use up and down the country, just using slightly different words. The lyrics go:

E-I-E-I-E-I-O,

Up the Premier League, we go,

When we get to Europe,

This is what we sing,

We are Geordies,

Super Geordies,

And Eddie is our king

The song was sung after the departure of Mike Ashley as owner in 2021 and the takeover by the current owners. It is to celebrate the Magpies’ resurgence in recent years. The last line of the song is an ode to head coach Eddie Howe.