Barmy Army

Meanings

1. An organised group of cricket fans which arranges touring parties of its members to follow the English cricket team on all of its overseas tours.
2. The England supporters in other sports, for example those of the England national football team.

Etymology

An English football chant (originally adapted by the song "Exploited Barmy Army" by Scottish punk band The Exploited), in which supporters of a team would chant that they were the team manager's "barmy army", was applied to a particularly group of supporters who followed the English cricket team to Australia in 1994–95 despite the team being seen as having little prospect of success. The original use of "Barmy Army" in football was based on a soubriquet by Leeds United supporters for Howard Wilkinson, the team manager during the late eighties and early nineties. He was known as Sergeant Wilko - a skit on Sergeant Bilko, a well known comedy character portrayed by Phil Silvers a couple of decades earlier, but still at the time on TV. Sergeant Bilko's army became Sergeant Wilko's army, the barmy bit was added because it's Yorkshire and it makes a good chant. It was picked up by other teams, whereupon the Sergeant Wilko bit was dropped. Then by cricket people. The tune is the same though.