Goodnight Irene on Radio 5 Live

I remember in the conference days that bald presenter on BT sport at the time was doing the Rovers game at FGR. Gasheads were in fine voice and the presenter said ‘the away supporters are giving a rousing rendition of their club anthem - come on Eileen’.

It's usually on at 10am but you can listen back on BBC Sounds

Having listened to the origin of Goodnight Irene and the claim that the song was stolen from Plymouth in 1959 at Eastville, does anyone who went to that game know if the song was sung at Eastville afterwards. Also was Gordon Bennett and his mob belting out songs and chants from the south enclosure in 1959? I do not remember hearing Goodnight Irene at Eastville until around 1966 when we ended a 15 game losing run at home to Grimsby and the singing was in the North Enclosure and Stand.

Enjoyed that thanks for sharing.

Really does suit us.

Enjoyed that, it always sounds like Colin Murray has a real soft spot for The Gas.

Hope when they do The Red, Red Robin that they remember to include "shoot the barsteward" in the lyrics.

The goal during Irene at Fulham was the best. Filmed by a steward or Fulham fan I think. Feel free to confirm.
Still needs a couple of verses IMO.

A very interesting listen. I’ve looked back in the records and it’s most likely to have been November 4th 1950, Rovers 3 Plymouth 1, at Eastville attendance 29,561!

That ties in with the poster saying it was sung at the firework display the night before - which always took place at Eastville up to the 70’s I believe.

I would think the Plymouth fans would have been singing various well known songs accompanied by that mysterious accordion player (imagine getting that through the turnstiles!)
So I doubt it was their own anthem as such but the words would have been appropriate as they went 1-0 up only for Rovers to turn round to 3-1 and change the lyric to Goodnight Argyle. It’s a shame there’s probably no one around who was actually at the game who can remember. My dad was there and would always sing the anthem but he didn’t recall how it all came about. The season coincided with the great cup run to the 6th Round and the two Newcastle clashes so you can imagine it being sung as the backdrop to what was at the time our first taste of success carrying on two years later for the first promotion in the club’s history.

Forward to the 60’s when I started following and I don’t remember it being sung then - it was usually adaptations of Beatles songs like ‘All we are saying - is give us a goal’ and’We all live in a Blue submarine. The Gordon Bennett gang of singers used to stand near the tunnel before moving to the Tote End. Did Irene return in the Gerry Francis years or a few years before?

It's a great song with a great first verse which has nothing to do with the original, but has been spliced on awkwardly but somehow successfully, or at least used to be until it got sped up and mangled.

It's just about hanging on on healthily if a bit shorter than it used to be.

Quite remarkable it's lasted so long and a unique song to treasure. The teds slag it off endlessly on their 'Rovers mean NOTHING to us' thread with 10.3 million views (yes), because they are so jealous we have something different and worth cherishing.

It must be hard for the poor little mites bless, when you consider your entire club history stretches back to what, 1982 ?