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Barmy army

mullarkey

School Boy/Girl Captain
Seriously, who are the Barmy Army? I have followed English cricket for an awfully long time, I love England from the bottom of my heart and I follow county cricket (I support Lancashire but love all of our counties, except Yorkshire). I was very fortunate to visit Australia and see the first two Test matches of a very memorable and historic series in 1986 and believe me there was no such thing as the Barmy Army. England cricketers and commentators often talk in glowing terms of the 'Barmies' but I don't know anyone who is a 'Barmy'. Please tell.
 

GirtBySea

U19 12th Man
They are the inferior version of the Swami Army :ph34r:

And the Barmy Army copied the Swami Army? Or the other way round?
The Barmy Army were created around the Ashes of Australia in 1994-95 season and have been around since. Sources have said the Australian media gave them that name in reference to the fact they kept singing and chanting even when they lost!
And believe me, I have seen plenty of England losses in Australia, and they will never stop. Edgebaston 2005 was a hugely rare exception. You could hear a pin drop.
Also, the Barmy Army have many supporters of English soccer. You will see clubs ranging from Manchester United to Northampton Town if you looked very carefully. But, thank **** it's cricket. They don't brawl.

Their best known chant would be this one:
One Guy: Everywhere we go
Everyone: Everywhere we go
One Guy: The people want to know
Everyone: The people want to know
One Guy: Who we are
Everyone: Who we are
One Guy: Where we come from
Everyone: Where we come from
One Guy: Shall we tell them
Everyone: Shall we tell them
One Guy: Who we are
Everyone: Who we are
One Guy: Where we come from
Everyone: Where we come from
One Guy: We are the Army
Everyone: We are the Army
One Guy: The Barmy Barmy Army
Everyone: The Barmy Barmy Army
One Guy: We are the England
Everyone: We are the England
One Guy: The Mighty Mighty England
Everyone: The Mighty Mighty England
Then everyone shouts Barmy Army, 2 claps, and then rinse, repeat, for minutes on end. Along with many other ones they may make up on any given day.
 

Jono

Virat Kohli (c)
And the Barmy Army copied the Swami Army? Or the other way round?
The Barmy Army were created around the Ashes of Australia in 1994-95 season and have been around since. Sources have said the Australian media gave them that name in reference to the fact they kept singing and chanting even when they lost!
And believe me, I have seen plenty of England losses in Australia, and they will never stop. Edgebaston 2005 was a hugely rare exception. You could hear a pin drop.
Also, the Barmy Army have many supporters of English soccer. You will see clubs ranging from Manchester United to Northampton Town if you looked very carefully. But, thank **** it's cricket. They don't brawl.

Their best known chant would be this one:
One Guy: Everywhere we go
Everyone: Everywhere we go
One Guy: The people want to know
Everyone: The people want to know
One Guy: Who we are
Everyone: Who we are
One Guy: Where we come from
Everyone: Where we come from
One Guy: Shall we tell them
Everyone: Shall we tell them
One Guy: Who we are
Everyone: Who we are
One Guy: Where we come from
Everyone: Where we come from
One Guy: We are the Army
Everyone: We are the Army
One Guy: The Barmy Barmy Army
Everyone: The Barmy Barmy Army
One Guy: We are the England
Everyone: We are the England
One Guy: The Mighty Mighty England
Everyone: The Mighty Mighty England
Then everyone shouts Barmy Army, 2 claps, and then rinse, repeat, for minutes on end. Along with many other ones they may make up on any given day.
Mate I Know the Barmy Army came before the Swami Army. Was just joking.
 

sledger

Spanish_Vicente
Yeah, we all know what happens when you start to throw the "jokes" around.

You've got previous for this sort of thing, expect an infraction in due course.
 

Daemon

Request Your Custom Title Now!
And the Barmy Army copied the Swami Army? Or the other way round?
The Barmy Army were created around the Ashes of Australia in 1994-95 season and have been around since. Sources have said the Australian media gave them that name in reference to the fact they kept singing and chanting even when they lost!
And believe me, I have seen plenty of England losses in Australia, and they will never stop. Edgebaston 2005 was a hugely rare exception. You could hear a pin drop.
Also, the Barmy Army have many supporters of English soccer. You will see clubs ranging from Manchester United to Northampton Town if you looked very carefully. But, thank **** it's cricket. They don't brawl.

Their best known chant would be this one:
One Guy: Everywhere we go
Everyone: Everywhere we go
One Guy: The people want to know
Everyone: The people want to know
One Guy: Who we are
Everyone: Who we are
One Guy: Where we come from
Everyone: Where we come from
One Guy: Shall we tell them
Everyone: Shall we tell them
One Guy: Who we are
Everyone: Who we are
One Guy: Where we come from
Everyone: Where we come from
One Guy: We are the Army
Everyone: We are the Army
One Guy: The Barmy Barmy Army
Everyone: The Barmy Barmy Army
One Guy: We are the England
Everyone: We are the England
One Guy: The Mighty Mighty England
Everyone: The Mighty Mighty England
Then everyone shouts Barmy Army, 2 claps, and then rinse, repeat, for minutes on end. Along with many other ones they may make up on any given day.
Pretty sure that one's not a Barmy Army original..
 

zaremba

Cricketer Of The Year
The Barmy Army were created around the Ashes of Australia in 1994-95 season and have been around since. Sources have said the Australian media gave them that name in reference to the fact they kept singing and chanting even when they lost!
The "Barmy Army" tag comes from football originally, I think. Anyway certainly during the 1992 World Cup in Australia quite a lot of England fans were singing "Graham Gooch's barmy army".

I do take my hat off to them, they have got some real staying power, that's for sure. I went to Sydney in 2006/07 for the 5th defeat of the series and they were just magnificent all the way through.
 

mullarkey

School Boy/Girl Captain
The "Barmy Army" tag comes from football originally, I think. Anyway certainly during the 1992 World Cup in Australia quite a lot of England fans were singing "Graham Gooch's barmy army".

I do take my hat off to them, they have got some real staying power, that's for sure. I went to Sydney in 2006/07 for the 5th defeat of the series and they were just magnificent all the way through.
I am not totally in the dark about the BA, I know the chant 'Barmy Army' well from visiting loads of English soccer grounds and I think I first heard it as early as the 1970s. But it seems to me that most of the BA are Brits living in Australia or may be not? On English cricket grounds there is no Barmy Army, yes certain groups of people shout some of their songs but compared to it's presence at Tests in Australia it is of no significance. Why is that I wonder?
 

Adders

Cricketer Of The Year
I am not totally in the dark about the BA, I know the chant 'Barmy Army' well from visiting loads of English soccer grounds and I think I first heard it as early as the 1970s. But it seems to me that most of the BA are Brits living in Australia or may be not? On English cricket grounds there is no Barmy Army, yes certain groups of people shout some of their songs but compared to it's presence at Tests in Australia it is of no significance. Why is that I wonder?
When England play in Australia yes there are plenty of ex pats like me that make up the Nos but the vast majority have still come over for the cricket. The Barmy Army are not overly prevalent in English grounds because it is too ****ing expensive and many of the hardcore supporters have simply boycotted home tests now. It was cheaper for them to do the NZ tour than do the whole Ashes series in the UK. That being said the Oz tour which was once so cheap is now incredibly expensive as well.

Also whilst they get welcomed all over the world in England they are still poorly treated. No singing at all at Lords (this I can accept) so no BA presence there and Trent Bridge wouldn't let Billy in with his trumpet this year (which I don't accept.....at all)
 
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Burgey

Request Your Custom Title Now!
yes mate I do. My son and I have season tickets and I am really excited about the coming season.
Good stuff. I want to get to. League match next time I'm over in Blighty.

Sadly, being a Parramatta supporter, that's how far I have to travel
To take an interest in a competitive match :ph34r:
 

mullarkey

School Boy/Girl Captain
Good stuff. I want to get to. League match next time I'm over in Blighty.

Sadly, being a Parramatta supporter, that's how far I have to travel
To take an interest in a competitive match :ph34r:
well if you make to this small corner of the world give me a shout and I'll buy you a pint of warm beer!
 

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