It has been heard on most match days for 30 years… but why did supporters adopt Tom Jones classic Delilah as their own anthem?
It was sung at its loudest probably at Wembley in 1992, drowning out poor Ivan Gaskell on Radio Stoke as he tried to describe the scenes after Stoke had won the Autoglass Trophy under Lou Macari.
And it still makes hairs stand on end, heard everywhere from weddings to funerals and brilliant boxing walk ons.
Anton Booth, owner of Newcastle-based roofing firm A.D Booth & Sons and known as TJ among Stoke supporters, claims to have unwittingly kick-started the Delilah phenomenon among fans after he began to sing it in a pub in the late 1980s.
“I still can’t believe the phenomenon over singing Delilah,” he told the Sentinel in 2009.
“It all began at an away game in Derby (in April 1987) where we were all in a pub and the police asked us not to sing a song with swear words on. So we put Delilah on the jukebox, and I got up on a table and started singing it. We sang it in the ground and it just went from there.”
Our football song prints
Our hand designed prints celebrate the glory days of football characterised by memorable events and legendary players. This song has been sung by generations of fans and is now captured in this fine quality product.
All our prints are made to order. Hand cut and finished in the UK on 250gsm paper, this award-winning paper delivers a beautiful print which is colour guaranteed and light proof for 80 years so will last for generations to come.
Product details
- A2 (594 x 420mm / 23.4 x 16.5in)
- Printed on 250gsm paper
- Outstanding print quality and rich colour reproduction
- Guaranteed lightproof for 80 years
- Your print comes unframed
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