Well it was quite a night.
Each and every football club in the league has their own very specific songbook of matchday chants. Great pride is taken in developing a rich and varied catalogue of favourites to belt out at the top of your lungs come the day of the game.
There is of course Liverpool’s famous You’ll Never Walk Alone; Arsenal’s quaint She Wore A Yellow Ribbon; West Ham’s notorious I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles; and who can forget Sheffield United’s version of Annie’s Song?
As football fans, these ditties help define you as a collective and set you apart from your rivals. Manchester is no different. Take Me Home United Road is ever-present at Old Trafford, whilst Blue Moon is a club anthem at the Etihad.
But there is trouble in the ranks as United fans claim their City rivals have stolen a Red Devil staple. Not only that, but the club is complicit in the criminal act. Things boiled over on Tuesday night after the Blues beat Monaco 5-3.
The song in question is the Four Seasons’ classic December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night). A timeless toe-tapper of that there is no doubt…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDxhugRKZ8g
Manchester United fans adapted the lyrics after winning their second European Cup in 1999, courtesy of very special night indeed at the Camp Nou. The rehashed lyrics go thus:
“OH WHAT A NIGHT!
LATE IN MAY IN 1999
OLE SCORED A GOAL IN EXTRA TIME
WHAT A FEELING, WHAT A NIGHT!”
Except now it seems City fans have their own version:
“OH WHAT A NIGHT!
WATCHING CITY ON A WEDNESDAY NIGHT
YOU PLAY THURSDAY ‘COS YOU’RE FUCKING SHITE
WHAT A FEELING, WHAT A NIGHT!”
Blues fans have been airing that particular version since October, but it got a raucous rendition at the Monaco game, especially as the Etihad DJ blasted it from the stadium speakers on the final whistle. Then there was this tweet from the official MCFC account…
What a feeling. What a night! 🎶 pic.twitter.com/u1h8aA7hDN
— Manchester City (@ManCity) February 21, 2017
As you can imagine, it didn’t go down well with United fans…
https://twitter.com/SimpIyYanited/status/834157500811341825
https://twitter.com/ClassicalMensah/status/834155471665819649
uhhhhh, I think that's our chant?
— Oliver Fraser (@olifraser54) February 21, 2017
Tut ..tut .. Using United's song….get your own.
— ManUtdMrs💙 (@ManUtdMrs) February 21, 2017
https://twitter.com/faizsteiger/status/834158086004756480
State of you ffs,what's the next thing you'll try to copy us in??
— . (@El_xM11) February 21, 2017
https://twitter.com/FraserSuthers11/status/834163744162902022
https://twitter.com/TiliDie_United/status/834155474870235136
Bare-faced thievery, or top-notch pissboiling? We’ll let you decide.
