The last time I made the following suggestion, COVID-19 was merely the usual virus that would make Chinese people ill but fizzle out before it got anywhere else. Parts of the media would go completely bonkers, telling us we were all going to die and then we wouldn’t. Well, this time the virus not only escaped from China, it has so far killed over a million people. So, what else to do at a time like this than to write about something entirely trivial: the Bristol Rovers run out tune.
I’m afraid I have been banging on about this subject for many years. Nearly 25. Until 1996, the Rovers had spent almost a decade at Bath City’s Twerton Park, having departed their spiritual home at Eastville. When it was announced that Rovers would be returning to Bristol at the Memorial Ground, the then home of Bristol rugby, a few of us obsessives began to think about the team’s run out tune.
At Bath, in the spirit of the underdog we plainly were, the players ran out to the theme from Rocky. I never much cared for the song, never mind using it as a run out tune, but at the time we had other things to worry about. Like the future of the club, if it had any future at all. After a few pints of cider, we came up with one song: Thin Lizzy’s The Boys Are Back In Town.
Naturally, we made our suggestion to various folk at the football club, including numerous board members. It was clear to me that they had never heard of the song and I felt I might as well have been talking backwards. But, they assured me, they’d take it away. And guess what? The Rovers return to Bristol was not greeted by the heavy guitar licks, followed by ‘Guess who just got back today?’ That first game, I realised, we had missed the boat and it would not be sailing again.
Since then, the run out tune has been a hot potch of Rocky, Singing the Blues and even Rovers’ special song Goodnight Irene. None, in my humble opinion, have worked. I had all but given up on the idea of the boys being back into town. Until now. So, let me try again.
COVID-19 has stopped people going to football. Games are now being played again, but no one is watching them. And it is unlikely that fans will be allowed in stadiums until the 2021/22 season. Fans, not least Gasheads, will be straining at the leash to see their beloved team again and that first day back at the Memorial Stadium will be not a little emotional. Would it not be right, finally, for everyone, players and fans alike, be welcomed back to The Boys Are Back In Town at full volume?
I’ll wager a full house, regardless of the opponent, and the air will be fizzing and crackling with huge excitement. As kick off nears, the PA announcer goes through the usual build up songs, culminating in the arrival of the players, as Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson’s guitars soar into action and by time the players get to their places on the halfway line, everyone is singing ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’. I may have got this completely wrong. It could be that Gasheads are happy with Rocky or Singing The Blues, or even the wretched Chumbawumba musical turd, I Get Knocked Down, but for me, The Boys In Back In Town would be as relevant as it was in 1996 when we all came back to Bristol.
I hope we try it. Bristol Rovers, it’s over to you.
