She sings in a church choir most weeks.
But now Huddersfield Town fan Anne Firth is to exercise her vocal chords on a much bigger stage.
She will be part of a special soccer fans’ choir at Wembley for the showpiece FA Cup Final, singing the traditional football hymn Abide With Me.
Anne is among the winners of the Songs of Praise FA Cup Fans choir competition, who applied to take part in a once in a life-time experience to sing ‘Abide With Me’ on the pitch, as it is televised across the world.
The 64 lucky football fans, ranging in age from 20 to 100, will be representing their football club as they join with The Band of The Brigade of Gurkhas in front of almost 90,000 people on Saturday, May 30. Each fan represents one of the 64 teams who made it to this year’s third round in the FA Cup.
Songs of Praise, who teamed up with BBC Sport as part of their FA Cup programming, asked for people to submit stories that reflect their personal memories and passion of the cup from every level of the game.
Over 1,300 people applied and Anne was one of the lucky ones.
The 53-year-old has been a Town fan since childhood, even though her family weren’t football fans.
She recalled: “I remember my mum Shirley saying now you are seven, you are old enough to join the church choir.
“This coming of age got me thinking. If I’m old enough to be in the choir, surely I’m old enough to go to football?
“My pleas fell on deaf ears.
“As a girl, in the 1960s, I was expected to play with dolls and bake - but I loved sport. Brought up in a Rugby League following home, my Dad Stan was a keen supporter and went to games every Saturday afternoon.
“By the early 70s, I persuaded my parents that I really did love football and I became a Huddersfield Town supporter, taken to games by a family friend.
“I tried to share my passion for the game with my Dad. As a concession, he agreed to watch the FA Cup Final in 1973. We sat in our armchairs in front of our small black and white television. My Dad was sure Leeds would win. Having beaten Arsenal in 1972, second division opposition in the form of Sunderland would be no problem.
“My mum was busy in the kitchen. After half an hour Sunderland scored. I leapt from my chair. As the game went on, my Mum joined us. The underdogs were looking good. Midway through the second half, Jim Montgomery made the most amazing save from Peter Lorimer. My parents were glued. That was the beginning of a family tradition of watching the FA Cup Final together.
“I’m still in the church choir at St Andrews’ Church in Batley and I’m a season card holder at Huddersfield Town. I also learned to appreciate my Dad’s love of rugby and I have a season ticket at Batley Bulldogs.”
Watch Leona Lewis perform the hymn at last year's FA Cup final
