World Cup song duo hail England’s heroes
AFOOTBALL mad musician who wrote a World Cup anthem says the players will return as heroes despite defeat.
Macclesfield band Silence Apollo released their song ‘Never Give Up’, ahead of this year’s tournament.
Written by former Henbury High School pupil, Andy Hughes and 39-year web designer Dave Smith, it was supposed to inspire England to glory.
Sadly however, that was not to be the case as Gareth Southgate’s men were knocked out by Croatia in the semi-final.
Andy, a business consultant had said he was feeling confident before the game but was gutted by the loss.
Andy, 38, who like Dave lives on Bridge Street, said: “I’ve only just about recovered. I was very confident.
“The whole idea of the song is that we should never give up and keep going until the end. It is about trying to inspire that never give up attitude.
“Maybe if the players had listened to the song before the match they might have pushed on a bit more until the end.”
But despite defeat Andy said the team have exceeded expectations and done the country proud.
He said: “They will definitely return as heroes. They played with more heart than I have ever seen them play with.”
Andy said he had been trying for some time to write the perfect football tune but it was only this summer when he managed to finish it and encouraged by his wife, he sent it into the Express.
He said: “It has taken me about eight years to write it. There have been a few but it is the first one that I thought was good enough for public consumption. “I went round to Dave’s one evening and played a few chords and it sort of just came together, a bit like this England team really.”
He added: “It would be amazing to hear people singing it but I don’t know how that would happen; maybe for the next World Cup.” The pair even made a video for the inspirational song, which sees them playing football on the streets of Macclesfield.
He said: “We were inspired by the Brazil advert in airport from years ago. If you splice the video together it looks like me and Dave are heading the ball to each other from different parts of Macc.
“Maybe in a few years people will watch it and say ‘oh I remember that place’ or that they went to that park etc and recognise parts of the town.”
He added: “Maybe we will see you in 2020 with our next England song.”
SEE Your Views p12.