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Revealed: The reason why Freed From Desire became a huge football hit

It's one of England's biggest football anthems and can be heard reverberating around grounds across the country and even on international trips abroad.

But Gala Rizzatto's 1997 hit Freed From Desire owes its dominance among the game's fans to humble beginnings in League One.

Back in 2016, Wigan Athletic were stranded in the third tier having plummeted from the heights of the Premier League and FA Cup glory three years prior.

Enter Will Grigg - a Northern Irish number nine whose eye for goal saw him bag 25 league strikes, sending the Latics back into the Championship.

Paying homage to the prolific centre forward, Wigan fan Sean Kennedy uploaded a video to YouTube titled Will Grigg's On Fire which involved a rendition of a terrace chant about the striker to the tune of Freed From Desire.

One of football's biggest anthems owes its popularity to Will Grigg's electric goal scoring

Gala Rizzatto's Freed From Desire can be heard around grounds across the country

While other chants have surged in popularity before fading, Freed From Desire has gone from strength to strength and most teams have a version ready to belt out on the terraces

The clip soon went viral and the chorus of 'Will Grigg's on fire, your defence is terrified' was heard in pubs and grounds throughout Britain.

The birth of the chant also coincided perfectly with Euro 2016 which saw Grigg travel to the competition with his national team, albeit in a disappointing campaign for the striker who did not play a single minute.

Supporters of other teams quickly tailored the tune to fit the names of their star men and England fans could be heard singing 'Vardy's on fire' in France as the Three Lions played their group matches.

While other witty chants have surged in popularity before fading fast, Freed From Desire has gone from strength to strength and most teams now have a version of the anthem ready to belt out on the terraces.

And the song itself has benefitted from the fame football has given it, with frequent playbacks of the tune on stadium PAs and concourse soundsystems making the hit now synonymous with trophy-lifting and sporting good times.

As a result, Gala's single has re-entered the charts on a number of occasions and has been remixed by a number of different artists, making it a staple in nightclubs and bars across Britain and Europe. 

Many of those dancing along in clubs and singing the words in the stands have no clue that their favourite tune owes its fame to the lower-league centre forward.

But this suits Grigg down to the ground, with the Northern Irishman previously expressing his frustration that he was only associated with the anthem and not with his prowess in front of goal.

In 2021 he told the Belfast Telegraph: 'The song itself never annoyed me. The warm-up before the third group game against Germany, I can still clearly remember that Will Grigg's On Fire was played over the stadium, the lyrics were displayed on the two screens and both sets of fans sang along. It was a very special feeling for a League One player like me.

'What bothered me, however, was that some people only connected me with it and not with my goals. The song doesn't exist because Will Grigg fits the rhythm so well, but because I scored 25 goals for Wigan. Everyone in England and Northern Ireland knew that, but not at the Euros.

England fans could be heard singing 'Vardy's on fire' in France as the Three Lions played at Euro 2016

Despite his chant dominating the tournament, Grigg himself endured a tough Euro 2016

Grigg is still firing in goals for fun, nabbing 24 in 38 appearances for Chesterfield last season

'All my friends and relatives enjoyed the song - except for my little daughter. Whenever she went to the playground, her friends would sing the song. At the beginning, she thought it was funny, but at some point, it annoyed her.'

Grigg is still firing in goals for fun, nabbing 24 in 38 appearances for Chesterfield last season.

But eight years on from his electric season with Wigan, the number nine's lasting legacy looks likely to be a terrace chant which shows no sign of fading out of fashion.

Source: dailymail.co.uk

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