Everton are known for having one of the more colourful atmospheres in the English game and their supporters are famed for making Goodison Park a difficult environment to play in for away opponents in any given fixture.
Of course, the Toffees won’t be staying at Goodison Park much longer, with the construction of their new stadium, which will be located at Bramley-Moore Dock, now well underway.
Saying goodbye to Goodison Park will undoubtedly be an emotional farewell for the Everton fanbase, given that the Walton-based stadium has been their home since 1892. Nevertheless, the new Everton Stadium, which will have a capacity of 52,888, will provide a major increase in revenue streams and provide a beacon of hope following a tough few years on and off the field for the blue half of Merseyside.
Despite trials and tribulations at boardroom level and close shaves with relegation on the field, Everton fans have remained passionate and vocal in the stands, providing fantastic backing to their players and continually challenging the club hierarchy when needed.
Without further ado, Football FanCast takes a look at ten of the best chants Everton supporters have belted out from the stands home and away over recent years, in no particular order.
10 60 Grand, 60 Grand Seamus Coleman
Lyrics: “60 Grand, 60 Grand Seamus Coleman. 60 Grand, 60 Grand I say. 60 Grand, 60 Grand Seamus Coleman. Playing football the Everton Way!”
We begin with a song that pays homage to Everton club captain Seamus Coleman, who has been a pivotal fixture over the years at Goodison Park since famously joining for just £60,000 from League of Ireland outfit Sligo Rovers in January 2009, cited by The Liverpool Echo.
Put simply, Coleman lives and breathes Everton and has become an icon among supporters due to his tenacity, quality and never-say-die attitude on the pitch. Over the course of his time on Merseyside, the Republic of Ireland international has racked up 409 appearances across all competitions for the Toffees, registering 28 goals and 32 assists, as per Transfermarkt.
Back in June, Coleman signed a one-year contract extension at Everton that has seen him enter his 15th season at the club. The 34-year-old is also the longest-serving player in the Premier League.
Speaking to Everton’s official website after signing his new deal, Coleman stated: “Everyone knows how much Everton means to me, which is why it is special to sign this new contract and continue to play for this great club.”
9 Z-Cars theme tune
There are no such lyrics to this tune, which some would claim rules this out of any Everton chant tier list. However, the famous sirens before kick-off at Goodison Park help to generate a raucous atmosphere before big games and have an intriguing back story.
One answer provided on popular Everton fan site ToffeeWeb cited via The Liverpool Echo attributes the Toffees’ adoption of the theme tune to a member of the cast of Z-Cars, which was a British police crime drama that ran between 1962-1978, who was an Evertonian that brought some of his friends from the show to a match at Goodison Park.
In recognition of their attendance, Everton played the Z-Cars theme and the rest was history. The air raid sirens heard audible at the beginning are believed to be a relatively new addition as a result of one of boxer Tony Bellew’s ring entrances.
8 It's a Grand Old Team
Lyrics: “Hail, Hail, The Everton are here, What the hell do we care, What the hell do we care, Hail, Hail, The Everton are here, What the hell do we care now …For its a Grand Old Team to play for, For its a Grand Old team to see and if you know the history, It’s enough to make your heart go Woooooooaaaaaaarrrrrrr!!! We don’t care what the REDS**** say, What the f*** do we care, For we all know, That there’s going to be a show, When the Everton boys are there!”
Excuse the blanked-out expletives, but we all know that football is a passionate affair and Everton fans are some of the most vocal supporters around, something which their rendition of Grand Old Team reflects.
Scottish giants Celtic are also famed for their own variation of the popular chant named ‘The Celtic Song’, while Tottenham Hotspur and Hibernian, among others, also have put their own spin on the song.
7 The Spirit of The Blues
Lyrics (excerpt): “It’s good news for the Blues and there’s no more time to lose, cos we’re hot on the trail, and there’s no way we’re gonna fail, so get your coat on and get moving, cos we don’t know the meaning of losing, so come on come on, get down to Goodison Park, Wooooo. Everton, we never shone so brightly, Everton, the spirit of the blues, Everton, we never shone so brightly, Everton, the spirit of the blues.”
One of the more popular chants home and away at present, Spirit of the Blues has enjoyed a renaissance in recent years and can regularly be heard on the terraces throughout the 90 minutes on matchdays.
Spirit of The Blues was released in 1985 after Everton completed a First Division title and European Cup Winners’ Cup double in 1984/85, as per The Daily Mail.
Everton fans famously dragged the song into the official UK single charts and it was the nation’s most-downloaded track of the week, placing 65th following a winning start to the 2020/21 campaign under Carlo Ancelotti.
6 Roberto Had A Dream
Lyrics: “Roberto had a dream, To build our football team, We had no money so we signed our players on loan, we play from the back, with Ross in attack, The School of Science, it’s on its way back…”
One that will bring back some nostalgia for Everton fans, Roberto Had A Dream references the term School of Science, which is believed to have derived from former Derby County striker Steve Bloomer, who mentioned in 1928 that Everton’s exciting brand of attacking football was “of the highest scientific order.”
Since then, the slogan has stuck at Goodison Park and was brought back into popularity during Roberto Martinez’s tenure in charge at Everton between 2013-2016.
Of course, Martinez was sacked in May 2016 amid fan protests; however, the song will at least give some fond memories from the better parts of the Spaniard’s spell.
5 Forever Everton
Lyrics (excerpt): “We’re the kings of Goodison, We play in Royal Blue, On the ball the Toffeemen, will play it sweet for you, we play it on the carpet, we play it in the air, whichever way we play it, we play it fair and square Everton, Everton, we’re Forever Everton, all for one, one for all, Everton’s the team that plays beautiful football…”
Forever Everton was written by Graham Gouldman, who is an English songwriter best known for his time as bassist and co-lead singer for Stockport-born British rock band 10cc.
Interestingly, some Everton fan forums note that he has no connection to the club and is actually a Manchester City fan, which wouldn’t be surprising as he was born in Salford.
Nevertheless, there can be no doubt that Gouldman has played his part in Everton history, creating a song that is regularly played over the tannoy pre-match and belted out by the fanatical Goodison Park support.
4 We are the Goodison Gang
Lyrics (subject to variation): Marching down the Goodison Road, all the windows open wide, when you hear a copper shout ‘hey, put that candle out’, we are the Goodison Gang. We’ve got no manners, we spend all our tanners, we are respected wherever we may go. Marching down the Goodison Road, all the windows open wide. When you hear a copper shout ‘hey, put that candle out.’ We are the Goodison guys.”
Of course, diehard Everton fans reading this may have their own slight tweaks to the working order of this song. Nevertheless, the famous chant has become a staple of matchday activity in the stands at Goodison Park and away from home turf.
Intriguingly, the song actually appeared on the BBC-broadcasted programme The Golden Vision in 1968, which was a mixture of a comedy, drama and docu-series depicting the life of an Everton supporter at that time, directed by Ken Loach.
For anyone who wants to see the footage of fans singing ‘The Goodison Gang’ on the show, click here and fast forward to exactly the nine-minute mark.
3 Singing the Blues
Lyrics: “I’ve never felt more like singing the Blues, When Everton win and Liverpool lose, Oh, Everton, you’ve got me singing the Blues…”
Nice and easy to explain, Singing the Blues is a commonly used song when the following happens: Everton win and Liverpool lose. Of course, this may also happen directly after the Toffees’ dearest rivals across Stanley Park fall to defeat, though I’ll leave it to any keen Toffees fans to decide when the chant is best deployed.
Several other clubs across the United Kingdom who wear blue have also adopted the chant as their own, factoring in their own rivals’ team name to revel in their misery of being on the wrong end of a result.
2 Here We Go
Lyrics: “Here we go, here we go, here we go. Everton is the best we all know. We’re the team, we’re supreme, number one and we love you, Everton! Here we go, here we go, here we go. Side by side as we sing along together, E-V-E-R-T-O-N We’re Everton and we’ll be Everton forever. Everton forever, we are on our way together. Getting stronger every day, we are winners all the way. Here we go, here we go, here we go. Everton is the best we all know. We’re the team, we’re supreme, number one and we love you, Everton!”
Here We Go has rang around the stands at Goodison Park for quite some time and is a variation of the archetypal football chant ‘Here We Go’, albeit with some very advanced add-ons that have made it into a favourite among those of a blue persuasion on Merseyside.
Here We Go was actually released as a single and their playing staff appeared on Top of the Pops to perform the track in 1985 amid the Toffees’ FA Cup final clash against Manchester United at Wembley Stadium, where Everton came up just short of winning a treble, including the European Cup Winners Cup and First Division due to an extra-time goal from Norman Whiteside.
1 Banks of the Royal Blue Mersey
Lyrics (sidenote – some lyrics blanked out): “Oh, we hate Bill Shankly and we hate St John, but most of all we hate Big Ron and we’ll **** the Kopites one by one on the banks of the Royal Blue Mersey, To Hell with Liverpool and Rangers too, ***** **** *** in the Mersey and we’ll fight fight fight, with all our might for the boys in the Royal Blue Jersey.”
Banks of the Royal Blue Mersey had to be included due to being another choice song among some Blues supporters, though some words have been taken out for obvious reasons.
It is unclear where it stemmed from exactly, but some suggestions put forward that the original tune was taken from a Scottish folk song of some kind; however, diehard Evertonians probably know otherwise!
Either way, we hope you enjoyed reading this article and if you enjoyed it, why not read about Everton’s latest free agent transfer target here.
