IPSWICH: It’s as much a part of the World Cup prelude as squabbling team-mates and broken metatarsals.

Some are timeless classics, others are cringe worthy caterwauls, and all succeed in whipping up excitement and expectation.

But the England song being chanted in pubs across the country and on the terraces in South Africa this summer could be one with a strong Ipswich connection.

Die hard Tractor Boys may recognise singer Jock Davies as the voice behind Ipswich Town’s anthemic Singing the Blues.

And for the next month he’ll be encouraging footie fans to get behind the national team ahead of the big kick-off in June by adopting ‘Come on Eng-er-land!’ as their World Cup song.

A cabbie by trade, Mr Davies, of Heath Lane, spent 12 years as a satirical cartoonist on The Evening Star before adding singing to his repertoire.

The 59-year-old, who is a regular performer at the Elizabeth Hotel with his seven-piece band Soul Town Chic, said: “Any football song has to be catchy, easily recognised and memorable.

“It must something that can be sung on the terraces but it also has to be a pleasure to record – and this was. Hopefully people will pick it up and adhere to it. It’s a bit of a guilty pleasure.”

The song came about after Mr Davies joined forces with co-writers Mark Newby-Robson and Paul Wilson of One Foot in the Groove, who have worked together on numerous projects including for Eurovision winners Katrina and the Waves, whose bassist they also managed to recruit for the recording of Come on Eng-er-land!

Mr Newby-Robson, 50, from Sudbury, said: “We wanted to write a real terrace song and we discovered that this gets stuck in your head from the moment you hear the first chorus.

“We did a version of it four years ago called Sven’s 11 Marches On but now it’s Fabio’s army we’re supporting.

“I can’t deny there’s a lot of energy in Jock’s singing. I told him to save his voice during recording but he just said not to worry because he does it every day. He’s certainly not shy or retiring!”

The video for Come on Eng-er-land! can be seen on Youtube or by visiting The Evening Star’s website www.eveningstar.co.uk.

n Let us know what you think of the song by writing to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail evening starletters@eveningstar.co.uk