In the 1960s and 1970s, several football clubs released records. After being inspired by "
Back Home" by the
England national football team in 1970, Arsenal players were urged by football pundit
Jimmy Hill to create an anthem for Arsenal that could rival
Liverpool's "
You'll Never Walk Alone".
ITV held a competition for fans to create an Arsenal anthem. However, none of the entrants were selected as the stronger candidates were seen as "too wordy". Hill then approached Arsenal's manager
Bertie Mee for permission to write his own anthem for Arsenal. Hill wrote "Good Old Arsenal" to the tune of "
Rule, Britannia!" and it was performed by Arsenal's first team squad for their
1971 FA Cup Final song. "Good Old Arsenal" was initially disliked by some
Arsenal fans who felt that it was bland and predictable. Following Arsenal's win in the final, the second part of their first
double, "Good Old Arsenal" became widely accepted and popular at Arsenal and continued to be sung by Arsenal supporters and is viewed as a classic football song. == Charts ==