PETER GILLMAN on the latest ‘world tour’ by a doughty band of singers from the Croydon Male Voice Choir
Sing when they’re winning: the Lions Choir, including Croydon dontingent, performing in Melbourne last week
Sporting history could be made on Saturday, when the British and Irish Lions rugby team take on Australia in Sydney seeking a Test whitewash for the first time in more than half-a-century.
And there to serenade the players, and the other 80,000 fans in the Olympic Stadium, will be a clutch of singers from the Croydon Male Voice Choir, part of the core of choristers who have been touring with the Lions for a quarter of a century.
On the pitch, the Lions have already secured the series win, with the late try against the Wallabies in Melbourne last weekend.
Eight members of the Croydon Male Voice Choir were in the crowds at the MCG that night, too, continuing a tradition that has seen them singing all around the world.
The CMVC involvement began in 2001, when two former Purley Rugby Club players, Martin Perkins and Dave Bannister, joined a tour to follow the British and Irish Lions’ visit to Australia. By chance, they were staying in the same hotel as the Lions Male Voice Choir, which was conducting its inaugural tour.
The Lions choir, drawn from choirs all over Britain and Ireland, sang at a range of venues before and after matches. After sharing multiple songs, and beers, the Purley duo were hooked, and they made the life-changing decision to join Croydon MVC when they were back home.
Three tours and out: injury ended Elliot Daly’s chances of playing in the Tests
Come the next Lions tour, to New Zealand in 2005, Perkins, Bannister and three other CMVC members signed up to sing with the Lions Choir. The Lions lost the series 3-0 but the Lions Choir won hearts when they sang on the pitch before each Test and elsewhere on the weekend of each match.
CMVC members took part in the next four Lions tours, the contingent swelling to eight for the current tour. They continue to sing with the Lions Choir, which this year has 55 members. Unlike the 2025 Lions squad, Welsh singers outnumber others.
The 2025 tour has been notable in one respect, as in coach Andy Farrell’s initial playing squad was Elliot Daly, an old boy of Whitgift School in South Croydon and veteran international player who was making the third Lions tour of his career – once a very rare achievement. Unfortunately for him, Daly suffered a tour-ending injury before the first Test.
For the singers, the tour did not extract such a cruel toll.
Croydon contingent: the CMVC tourists in Melbourne, providing almost 15% of the Lions Choir
The Lions Choir form part of the 40,000 supporters who have outnumbered the home crowds and outpowered their vocal support.
But the choir is no longer invited to sing on the pitch ahead of each Test, for fear of generating too much excitement for the visiting Lions team.
This year, the Croydon contingent flew out early, departing on July 14. After a stop-over in Singapore, they flew on to Brisbane where they joined the rest of the Lions Choir and were among the sea of red jerseys which roared the Lions to an emphatic 27-19 victory in the first Test. Celebrations continued long into the night: local pubs and brewers reported a 30% uplift in sales. They even had to issue a reassuring statement to quell concerns that the beer might run out.
The Lions Choir delivered an outstanding concert the next day to a packed audience at Sheldon College outside Brisbane, before embarking on some sightseeing in tropical Cairns and a visit to the Great Barrier Reef.
At every opportunity, the Croydon contingent delighted locals with spontaneous outbursts of song.
It was then on to Melbourne for a crucial, and hard-fought, clash. Despite arriving at their hotel at 3.30 on the morning of the match, the CMVC eight joined the main choir on stage at 2pm at the Lions Den, a vast exhibition hall containing 4,000 Lions supporters.
They then made their way to the MCG to join the 90,000-strong crowd. They had seats behind the posts at the end where, having once been 23-5 down, the Lions pressed for the score that would clinch the match and the series.
They leapt in triumph when Lions fullback Hugo Keenan touched down in the final minute – then held their breaths while the TMO reviewed the play and eventually confirmed the winning try.
On stage: the Lions Choir has helped keep spirits, and bar sales, high in Australia
The Croydon boys celebrated the series victory at Charlie’s Bar in the heart of Melbourne. Aussie landlord Dave, somehow hiding his disappointment, provided a complimentary round of beer and shots for the Croydon eight before they departed.
Despite sore heads and throats, the Lions Choir was in good voice at a sold-out concert the following afternoon, performed at Collins Street Baptist Church in the city centre, where the choir won applause with a rapid rendition of The Rhythm of Life and a premiere of Coldplay’s Fix You.
For a finale, the Lions choir combined on stage with the Australian Welsh Male Choir to render I Still Call Australia Home, which was accorded a rapturous standing ovation. The song stirred emotions among audience and choir alike, Croydon choristers Roger Parkinson and Steve Scott admitting afterwards that it had “got to them” and even made it difficult to sing.
On Tuesday this week, the choir moved on to Sydney for the final stage of the tour. They are due to perform what should be another memorable concert in the Sydney Opera House on Sunday, followed inevitably by visits to bars and pubs in Sydney’s Rocks area.
Victory parade: Croydon’s singing rugby fans had one of the best views in the house at the vast MCG last Saturday for the last-gasp win
The CMVC Eight fly home on Monday, ready to team up with the colleagues in a summer round of informal rehearsals, Beer and Ditty sessions in Croydon pubs on Friday evenings, and choir walks ahead of the new concert season that begins, in the Croydon Male Voice Choir’s 50th year, with the next concert at St John’s, Hurst Green, on October 11.
Meanwhile, veteran CMVC tourist Dave Bannister sent word from Sydney that, “Lions tours are wonderful, combining music, rugby and sightseeing in magnificent faraway countries. Long may they continue.”
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