Freddie Flintoff and Ricky Wilson Release Unofficial Football Anthem With Reboot of 70s Classic Rasputin

ONCHAN, Isle of Man, June 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Legendary England cricket captain and Kaiser Chiefs frontman accept BetStars challenge to rally England fans in Russia 

A new version of 70s disco classic Rasputin by England cricket legend Freddie Flintoff and Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson - backed by the online bookmaker BetStars, and singing the praises of star striker Harry Kane - was released today.

     (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/702691/BetStars_Freddie_Flintoff_and_Ricky_Wilson.jpg )

The track, Rasputin Rebooted by The Stars House Band featuring Freddie and Ricky, is a modern re-working of Boney M's 1978 Number 2 hit telling the story of the England captain rather than the song's original namesake, Rasputin, the Russian mystic famous for his ability to predict the future.

The track premieres today on the Stars £100m Challenge homepage, where fans can view the music video, starring Freddie, Ricky and special guests, including Fay Milton from Savages, at https://starschallenge.betstars.uk/. A thirty second preview can be accessed here.

The new version features lyrics including, "There lived a certain man in England long ago, he was big and strong, he played football like a pro," leading to the chorus, "Ha ha, Harry Kane, England's greatest goal machine". (Full lyrics below.)

The idea for creating an anthem sprang from a wager between Freddie and BetStars during the filming of a recent advert for the Stars £100 Million Challenge, which offers customers the opportunity to win up to £100 million if they correctly predict all 64 win, lose or draw results of the World Cup.

Freddie said: "When I heard that England had no official anthem, I told the BetStars team that I was gonna get a band together to create a song. Naturally they bet that I couldn't get a star big enough and talented enough to perform the song, but that they'd back the production if I could. That's when I rang Ricky.

"It's a perfect choice for a football anthem this summer. It's Russian, it's got all the noises, and all the dances - the only dodgy thing is I'm in it. There's been some cracking World Cup songs in the past and it would be nice to think that the fans will get behind this one and sing it in the stands over in Russia. If they don't, Ricky and I will just have to fly over there and get it going on the terraces ourselves."