Bluebirds Flying High

"Bluebirds Flying High"
	Single cover
Single by James Fox with Cardiff City F.C.
Released	May 5, 2008
Format	CD single, digital download
Recorded	2008
Genre	Pop, Football song
Length	3:46
Label	Plastic Tomato Records
Songwriter(s)	James Fox, Mads Louis Hauge
Producer(s)	James Fox/Mads Hauge
James Fox singles chronology

Last updated September 14, 2019

Bluebirds Flying High is a song written by British singer-songwriter James Fox. It was recorded as Cardiff City F.C.'s official song for the 2008 FA Cup Final.^[1] It was released as a single in May 2008 and charted at a peak position of number 15 in the UK Singles Chart.^[2] The song features backing vocals from members of the Cardiff City football squad.^[3]

James Richard Mullett, known professionally as James Fox, is a Welsh pop singer, songwriter, pianist and guitarist. He represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 in Istanbul. In 2008 he wrote and recorded the Cardiff City F.C. FA Cup Final song, "Bluebirds Flying High".

Cardiff City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as Riverside A.F.C., the club changed its name to Cardiff City in 1908 and entered the Southern Football League in 1910 before joining the English Football League in 1920. The team have spent 17 seasons in the top tier of English football since, the longest period being between 1921 and 1929. Their most recent season in the top flight was the 2018–19 Premier League season.

The 2008 FA Cup Final was a football match held at Wembley Stadium on 17 May 2008 and was the final match of the 2007–08 FA Cup competition. The match was the 127th FA Cup Final, and the second to be held at the new Wembley Stadium since its redevelopment. The match was contested by Portsmouth and Cardiff City, with Portsmouth winning 1–0. This was the first time that the two sides have ever met in the competition. Both teams were aiming to win the FA Cup for the second time, Cardiff having won it in 1927 and Portsmouth in 1939. Had Cardiff won, they would have been the first club from outside the top division of English football to have won the competition since West Ham United in 1980. The match had an attendance of 89,874, a record which still stands as the largest ever for an FA Cup Final at the new Wembley Stadium.

Background

Each year the teams that reach the FA Cup Final traditionally produce an official song to commemorate the occasion, featuring vocals from the players. James Fox, a fan of Cardiff City since 1983 when he was a ball boy during a league match at Ninian Park,^[3] wrote the song following Cardiff's third round victory against non-league side Chasetown in January 2008.^[3] He said in an interview with the Western Mail that "[The song] didn't take long to write. Being a Cardiff fan, it kind of wrote itself. I’ve always wanted to play for Cardiff but that was never going to happen so every year I just thought if they get to have a Cup song, if they get that far, I’ve got to be prepared." He later commented "As a record, it doesn’t break any new ground. It’s just a catchy tune that hopefully the supporters will latch on to."^[3]

The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It is one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 at the 2017 final. The match is the culmination of a knockout competition among clubs belonging to The Football Association in England, although Scottish and Irish teams competed in the early years and Welsh teams regularly compete, with Cardiff City winning the Cup in 1927 and reaching the final in 1925 and 2008. Since 1923 it has been played mostly at Wembley Stadium.

Ball boys and ball girls are individuals, usually youths, who retrieve and supply balls for players or officials in sports such as association football (soccer), American football, bandy, cricket, tennis, baseball and basketball. Though non-essential, their activities help to speed up play by reducing the amount of inactive time.

Ninian Park was a football stadium in the Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was used as the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910, it underwent numerous renovations during its lifespan. At the time of its closure in 2009, it had a capacity of 21,508.

Track listing

"Bluebirds Flying High" - 3:46
"Bluebirds Flying High" (karaoke version) - 3:46
Road to Wembley multimedia content

Promotion

Fox performed the song for the first time at the Hard Rock Cafe in Cardiff in front of competition winners as well as Cardiff chairman Peter Ridsdale.^[4]

Hard Rock Cafe Inc. is a chain of theme restaurants founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll memorabilia, a tradition which expanded to others in the chain. In 2007, Hard Rock Cafe International (USA), Inc. was sold to the Seminole Tribe of Florida and was headquartered in Orlando, Florida, until April 2018 when the corporate offices were relocated to Davie, Florida. As of July 2018, Hard Rock International has venues in 74 countries, including 185 cafes, 25 hotels, and 12 casinos.

Peter Ridsdale is an English businessman and advisor to the owner at Preston North End F.C.. He was until December 2011 the Chairman of Football Operations at League Two club Plymouth Argyle. Ridsdale was previously the chairman of Leeds United, Barnsley and Cardiff City.

Reception

Popularity

The song was popular amongst the staff of Cardiff City. Manager Dave Jones said "It is a really catchy song and it’s good that James is a big fan, as he has really captured the mood and the energy – the enthusiasm is superb. The lads loved the song and everyone is behind it. I’m sure it will be a massive success."^[3] Cardiff chairman Peter Ridsdale called it a "great song".

Critical reception

Digital Spy's Alex Fletcher awarded the song 2/5, writing "the odds of anybody outside of Cardiff City FC remembering this tune in a year's time is roughly equal to your local pub team's chances of winning the Champions' League."^[5]

Digital Spy is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, 'DS' has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, films, music and show business to a global audience. Digital Spy is one of the 150 most visited websites in the UK, according to Alexa.

The UEFA Champions League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the best team in Europe. It is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world and the most prestigious club competition in European football, played by the national league champions of the strongest UEFA national associations.

Charts

The song charted at number 15 in the UK Singles Chart on its first week of release. It reached number one in the official UK indie singles chart and the Welsh singles chart.

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-selling singles in the United Kingdom, based upon physical sales, paid-for downloads and streaming. The Official Chart, broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and MTV, is the UK music industry's recognised official measure of singles and albums popularity because it is the most comprehensive research panel of its kind, today surveying over 15,000 retailers and digital services daily, capturing 99.9% of all singles consumed in Britain across the week, and over 98% of albums. To be eligible for the chart, a single is currently defined by the Official Charts Company (OCC) as either a 'single bundle' having no more than four tracks and not lasting longer than 25 minutes or one digital audio track not longer than 15 minutes with a minimum sale price of 40 pence. The rules have changed many times as technology has developed, the most notable being the inclusion of digital downloads in 2005 and streaming in July 2014.

Chart (2008)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart	15^[2]

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References

↑ "Bluebirds in full song for final". BBC News . British Broadcasting Corporation. 8 April 2008. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
1 2 "Bluebirds Flying High". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 6 June 2009.
1 2 3 4 5 O'Connor, Gavin (9 April 2008). "Singer James Fox writes Bluebirds' FA Cup song". Western Mail . Retrieved 13 June 2009.
↑ Morris, Michael (30 April 2008). "Bluebirds Flying High - Official launch night". cardiff-city-mad.co.uk. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
↑ Fletcher, Alex (5 May 2008). "Singles reviews - James Fox & Cardiff City FC: Bluebirds Flying High". Digital Spy . Retrieved 13 June 2009.

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[1] "Bluebirds in full song for final". BBC News . British Broadcasting Corporation. 8 April 2008. Retrieved 6 June 2009.

[Charts-2] 1 2 "Bluebirds Flying High". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 6 June 2009.

[Western_Mail-3] 1 2 3 4 5 O'Connor, Gavin (9 April 2008). "Singer James Fox writes Bluebirds' FA Cup song". Western Mail . Retrieved 13 June 2009.

[4] Morris, Michael (30 April 2008). "Bluebirds Flying High - Official launch night". cardiff-city-mad.co.uk. Retrieved 13 June 2009.

[5] Fletcher, Alex (5 May 2008). "Singles reviews - James Fox & Cardiff City FC: Bluebirds Flying High". Digital Spy . Retrieved 13 June 2009.