Daily Times

One of the creators of the Vindaloo football anthem has credited its enduring popularity to it becoming a “pub folk song”.

Actor and comedian Keith Allen said the 1998 track, written with Blur’s Alex James and guitarist Guy Pratt under the alias Fat Les, would be sung by fans as long as there were pubs.

The song, originally written as a parody of football chants, has seen a resurgence in popularity as England advance through the Euro 2020 championship.

The 67-year-old, father of pop star Lily Allen, told the PA news agency he was not surprised by its longevity.

He said: “The thing about Vindaloo is that it is what I call a close proximity tune.

“It is not sung in stadiums.

“You don’t get 60,000 people singing Vindaloo, but you do get 20 million people in pubs singing Vindaloo.

“It is a pub folk song.

“That’s what it is.

“So as long as we have got pubs you will have Vindaloo.”

Describing the song as “inclusive”, he added: “We knew immediately that it was going to be big because it ticks all the boxes.

“But the most coveted thing about Vindaloo is it captures that unique England sense of humour.

“And the video certainly captures that.

“It is very quintessentially English and I think people like that.”

Allen quipped that co-writer Pratt, who owns a third of the publishing rights, had earned more money from Vindaloo than from his work with Pink Floyd, who he has regularly toured with.