Norwich City Songs and Chants: From When the Greens Go Marching In to On the Ball, City
Norwich City fans are amongst the most passionate that you’re likely to find, if for no other reason than the area is a one-club city in much the same way as Newcastle is. It means that those that get behind the club do so with a fervent attitude that might be considered difficult to replicate elsewhere, whilst the somewhat isolated nature of the club also helps to explain the fierce rivalry with Ipswich Town. As you might imagine, the rivals take their fair share of digs from Norwich supporters, irrespective of whether or not the East Anglian Derby is the match that is being played out in front of them at any given moment.
As with all sets of supporters, Norwich fans like to show their appreciation for the actual players on the pitch, but these chants have a tendency to be fleeting, dying out when the players move on to pastures new. As a result, we’ve chosen to forgo the opportunity to include player-specific chants here, given the fact that they will be largely irrelevant in a short amount of time. That being said, if the Canaries are playing well in a game and the supporters are enjoying themselves, it is not unheard of for chants about former players to be given a dusting off and brought out in order to help add to the overall atmosphere that is at play.
As you can probably guess, some of the songs and chants that Norwich City fans like to bring out from time to time can have what we will euphemistically refer to as ‘industrial’ language involved, which is worth bearing in mind if you’re discussing this page with any youngsters. We have looked to cover the majority of songs and chants that you might be expected to hear during a match featuring the Canaries, but this is far from an exhaustive list and if you feel as though there are others that we have missed out then you are almost certainly going to be right. Even so, it will offer a flavour of what supporters like to sing.
When the Greens Go Marching In
There is some evidence to suggest that Southampton were the first football club to use When the Saints Go Marching In as a song in support of the players, but that hasn’t stopped other fans from either using the song outright in their own favour or, in the case of Norwich City, giving it a tweak in order to make it more relevant to their own club.
The tune and even the majority of the words will be well known to pretty much everyone, such is the ubiquity of the song, but it is still worth saying them, given the fact that the Norwich supporters don’t sing quite the same version as everyone else:
Oh when the Greens!
(Oh when the Greens!)
Go marching in!
(Go marching in!)
Oh when the Greens go marching in,
I wanna be in that number,
Oh when the Greens go marching in!
(Repeat)
One City Strong
There are some songs that have never really made it out of the mouths of the supporters that originally sang them, with various reasons behind why that is the case. When it comes to One City Strong, it is a tune that only Norwich City supporters have ever really made their own, with the following being the words sung:
One shirt, one football team.
Two colours, yellow and green.
One city strong.
And we’ll march on,
And on, and on!
(repeat)
17th June 1902
Another song that fits into that bracket is 17th of June 1902, if for no other reason than it is the date that Norwich City FC was formed, thereby making it all but impossible for other clubs to make it work. It isn’t exactly the most thrilling of songs lyrically, but it gets its point across well enough:
17th of June,
1902,
Norwich City FC, Norwich City FC, Norwich City FC!
(repeat)
We Never Win
One of the things that football supporters do better than virtually any other sport is self-deprecating humour. Given how difficult it is to follow football teams sometimes, you need to be able to laugh or else you’d probably break down and cry. Here is the humorous chant that Norwich supporters will bring out if it really feels as though they’re up against the wall:
We never win at home
And we never win away!
We lost last week
And we lost today!
We don’t give a f**k
Because we’re all pissed up,
NCFC OK!
We Love You Norwich
Sometimes, there is a need for supporters to sing almost anything that can help to add to the overall atmosphere of a football match. Nowadays, the ‘We Love You’ song can seem a bit old-fashioned, to say nothing of the fact that it isn’t unique given almost every club’s supporters could sing it provided their name fits the syllables. In the case of the Canaries, they’ve cleverly missed off the ‘City’ so as to make it work when they sing the following:
We love you Norwich,
We do!
We love you Norwich,
We do!
We love you Norwich,
We do!
Ohh Norwich we love you!
(Repeat)
We Are the Norwich Boys
It is fair to say that you need to turn a blind eye to the sexist nature of this song, given the fact that it’s the 21st century and it isn’t just men and boys that like to head along to watch football matches. That being said, it is a song more about the players on the pitch than the people in the stand, which does make a slight difference. Then there is the small matter of the veiled threat towards Ipswich Town supporters, which doesn’t look great in the modern era. Even so, this is what Norwich City fans sing:
Hello! Hello!
Hello! Hello!
We are the Norwich boys!
Hello! Hello!
You’ll hear us by our noise
And if you are an Ipswich fan,
Surrender or you’ll die!
We all follow the City!
On the Ball, City
There are football clubs that are older than Norwich City, whilst others have enjoyed significantly more success than the Canaries. Interestingly, though, it is Norwich that lays claim to the world’s oldest football chant that is still in use today, coming in the form of On the Ball, City. The history books suggest that the ditty was actually penned for either Norwich Teachers or Caley’s Football Club, written in the 1890s and therefore possibly even older than the club itself. Used by Swifians and Norwich Church of England Young Men’s Society Football Club, it was adopted by fans of the club after its formation in 1902.
The one-time Director of Norwich City FC, Albert T Smith, is sometimes credited with having written it, which is why, as far as some people believe, supporters of the club began singing it. Irrespective of the truth, it is certainly the case that fans of the Canaries will sing it before kick-off of matches played at Carrow Road, as well as throughout the matches irrespective of where they are played. There have been minor changes made to the song over the years in order to make it more relevant, whilst the full lyrics are rarely heard all the way through. Even so, here is how the song goes:
In the days to call, which we’ve left behind,
Our boyhood’s glorious game,
And our youthful vigour has declined
With its mirth and its lonesome end;
You will think of the time, the happy time,
Its memories fond recall
When in the bloom of your youthful prime
We’ve kept upon the ball
Kick off, throw in, have a little scrimmage,
Keep it low, a splendid rush, bravo, win or die;
On the ball, City!
Never mind the danger,
Steady on, now’s your chance,
Hurrah! We’ve scored a goal.
Let all tonight then drink with me
To the football game we love,
And wish it may successful be
As other games of old,
And in one grand united toast
Join player, game and song
And fondly pledge your pride and toast
Success to the City club.
Kick off, throw in, have a little scrimmage,
Keep it low, a splendid rush, bravo, win or die;
On the ball, City!
Never mind the danger,
Steady on, now’s your chance,
Hurrah! We’ve scored a goal.