Northern Ireland

Ode to Northern Ireland striker Grigg sets charts on fire

Northern Ireland's Will Grigg during the International Friendly at Windsor Park on Friday. Picture Niall Carson/PA
Northern Ireland's Will Grigg during the International Friendly at Windsor Park on Friday. Picture Niall Carson/PA

A NORTHERN Ireland and Wigan chant which has taken the football terraces by storm is now making its mark on the music charts.

The song 'Will Grigg's on Fire', adapted from Gala's 90s hit Freed from Desire by Latics supporter Sean Kennedy in honour of his team's top scorer, is closing in on the iTunes top 10 after being released by London-based band Blonde.

Proceeds from the song will go to Joseph's Goal, a Wigan-based charity named after seven-year-old Latics fan Joseph Kendrick who suffers from rare genetic disorder Non-Ketotic Hyperglycinemia.

Kennedy (26), is pleased the song, which was 11th in the chart at 4pm on Tuesday – not far behind Beyonce and Rihanna – is helping a good cause.

"It's brilliant, people are singing it all over the place and we're getting really positive feedback from it as well," he said.

"I'm just happy it's something I've done to help.

"I was just sat doing a daft video – I've done plenty before – and it's caught on with everybody."

Blonde members Jacob Manson and Adam Englefield, who worked with vocalist Zak Abel to produce the track, released it under the name DJ Kenno in recognition of Kennedy's contribution.

Manson said: "We saw it was going round on social media and thought it was fun. We'd already done a mix for Freed from Desire for our set.

"We were contacted by the chairman and other representatives from Wigan talking about releasing for charity. It's for a really good cause.

"We feel like the chant belongs to the charity and the club, not us, but we're really, really happy to see it doing well."

Grigg was at the weekend named in the Northern Ireland squad for Euro 2016, with his chant now an internet sensation. It got an outing at Windsor Park when the striker came off the bench to score his first international goal in eight appearance.

The song has been dubbed over the top of clips from several mainstream television shows such as The Inbetweeners and The Simpsons, giving the impression that the characters are singing the song themselves.

Hull's players were also filmed singing it in the wake of their Championship play-off final win over Sheffield Wednesday.