Hamburg fans demand Will Grigg signing in online petition after striker became a hit with fans
Wigan forward has become an unlikely star at tournament despite not playing a single minute for Northern Ireland
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HAMBURG fans are urging their club to sign Wigan sensation Will Grigg.
The Northern Ireland striker, 24, lit up Euro 2016 despite not playing a minute thanks to his famous chant.
You will be hard pressed to find a football supporter who has not sung 'Will Grigg's On Fire' - to the tune of Gala's 1997 hit Freed From Desire - this summer.
And the Hamburg faithful were so caught up in the hype they have launched on online petition aiming to convince the Bundesliga outfit to land him.
The request, posted on , has almost 6,000 signatures at the time of writing, just a day after launch.
Firestarter: Origins of terrace favourite
A Wigan fan has been handed a free season ticket for “inventing” a song.
His rework of Gala’s 90s dance hit ‘Freed from Desire’ has been taking
terraces by storm.
And Latics fan Sean Kennedy has been rewarded for his ‘originality’ by his
club’s chairman David Sharpe – but did he pinch it off Bristol City and
Stevenage fans?
The Latics bounced back to the Championship at the first time of asking as
Gary Caldwell’s team finished top of League One this season.
That was largely thanks to the goalscoring heroics of Northern Ireland
international Will Grigg, who finished the division’s top scorer with 25
strikes.
As an ode to his hero, Latics fan Sean recorded his own version of the Gala
hit and put it on YouTube, with fans having watched it over 22,000 times in
10 days since he put it up.
After Latics players caught onto it, they sung a rendition to celebrate
scooping the title earlier this month.
Kennedy’s lyrics include: “He will score goals, he will just score more and
more. He will score goals, that’s what we signed him for. Will Grigg’s on
fire, your defence is terrified.”
And Latics chairman was so impressed with Sean’s ‘invention’ that he has given
him a free season ticket.
But SunSport has been digging around and it turns out Stevenage fans were on
to a BETTER version at least two years earlier.
Former Arsenal prodigy Luke Freeman was terrorising League Two defences at Boro before
earning a move to Bristol City two years ago.
And inan interview with fan site ‘Boroguide’, former winger Robin
Shroot paid tribute to the ‘Freeman’s on Fire’ chant.
Shroot said: “Luke’s was the most creative song I have ever heard. We all used
to sing it on the bench when the East Terrace started it up.
“’Your right-back is terrified, Freeman’s on fire!” – LMFAO! Whoever invented
it, bravo you!”
Bristol City fans have taken on the mantle since, with the cheeky playmaker a
big fans’ favourite having starred as the Robins won promotion a year ago
and then survived a tough season back in the Championship this year.
Newcastle fans have also been at it with Aleksandar Mitrovic’s ‘Mitro’s On Fire’.
But whoever came up with it first, frankly, who cares. Football is surely the
winner.
It said: "After several proposals on social networks we start herewith a petition to direct the attention of HSV [Hamburg] to a transfer of the Northern Ireland international Will Grigg.
The petition valued Grigg at £1.23million and claimed he would likely "bring in that much several times over in merchandising".
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The Latics hitman scored 25 goals in League One last season as Wigan were promoted into the championship.
Hamburg finished tenth in the Bundesliga with a quad that includes former Tottenham midfielder Lewis Holtby, ex-Arenal defender Johan Djourou.
Where will Will Griggs be playing next summer?
| Wigan | 1/2 |
| Celtic | 5/2 |
| Hamburg | 9/1 |
| Hull | 14/1 |
| Nottingham Forest | 16/1 |
Odds courtesy of Betway.