John McAlinden is one of the most imaginative, creative, energetic, kind and hardest working people I have had the pleasure of meeting thanks to my love of music. AKA John McMustard and leader of Colonel Mustard and the Dijon 5, John and his band bring colour, flair and fun times to festivals, towns and venues all across Scotland and beyond. They have done this for well over a decade and are going stronger than ever.
You could say that Colonel Mustard and the Dijon 5 are the Brazil of Scottish festival bands! Both play in the same colour with CMD5 t-shirts brightening festivals like the Brazilian national teams glorious yellow strips light up stadiums. Both play to have fun and to make people happy, bringing smiles to faces and gathering support from neutrals.
I was planning to write quite a few blogs on World Cup singles after writing about JJ Bull's magnificent LCD Soundsystem-esque Very Unofficial Scotland World Cup Song. But there have been so many I just couldn't keep up!
However, I was determined to write a blog on a song that tells a different story to every other, one that links Scotland with Brazil, ahead of the big game in Miami. The Fathers Of Brazilian Football by Colonel Mustard & the Dijon 5 featuring Samba Ya Bamba is out now. The lead single from a 5 song EP.
The song is about the four Scottish men that brought football to Brazil, including the first ball, from Busby to Rio in 1894 courtesy of Thomas Donohoe! It's a remarkable story, now captured in song. A full documentary should follow with the good Colonel heading to Brazil!
The Fathers of Brazilian Football were;
- Thomas Donohoe from Busby in 1894 got his wife Elizabeth to bring the 1st footballl to Bangu, Rio where a game took place between the textile factory workers.
- Charles Miller - His Dad from Fairlie, in 1894 took the rule book and 2 footballs to Sao Paulo and established the amateur game.
- Archie McLean from Paisley,alongside Bill Hopkins from Portsmouth, brought the short passing game, called tabelinha. Tabelinha in the chorus means little chart and is the short passing game that Archie McLean (the first Brazilian football star) from Paisley taught the Brazilians in Sao Paolo and it is played to this day.
- Jock Hamilton from Ayr brought structure to the amateurs through his coaching.
Why the hell couldn't Archie stay in Scotland and teach us this style of football?!
The ambition of John and his band on a DIY budget is exceptional, I find it incredibly inspiring. The video for the single was filmed at West of Scotland Cricket Ground - the home of the first international match in 1872 between Scotland and England. Scotland's only world cup winner Rose Riley features! Additional scenes were filmed at Glasgow Central Station, Hampden Park with Vanilla J from the Tartan Army and Springburn Park Synthetic Pitch.
Samba drums usher the song in, the infectious beat is then aided by the introduction of horns. Are you in?! John then tells the story through song - it is original, fun and very much Colonel Mustard & The Dijon 5 - unique, colourful and positive. Whistles, percussion, a breakdown, a build up, a Brazilian feel but with a distinctively Scottish accent. The hook obrigado, obrigado, play the game is infectious. Maybe one day we will get the Tartan Army and Brazil supporters chanting the chorus!
Check the brilliantly vibrant video below and then read on for an amazing interview with John. His passion for his band, friends, fans and football shines through. I greatly appreciate his time in answering my questions during an exceptionally busy time.
Interview with John McAlinden (AKA The Colonel)
When and how did you come up with the idea for the song?
My sister Nicola reminded me about Malcolm McLean that used to play in SambaYaBamba , his Granda was Archie McLean whose nickname in Brazil was little deer , because of how nimble and quick he was. He went over with the textile industry in Paisley and was one of the first stars of Brazilian football, playing for the Scottish Wanderers and Sao Paulo State , the highest honour at the time in Brazil.
Archie and his friend from Southampton Bill Hopkins introduced the Brazilians to the short passing game they call Tabelinha which means little chart. The Scots took the passing game to England then all over the world. After hearing about Archie , i bought a book from the 90's by Peter Cameron that gave me so much more info and I then started discovering there were other Scottish links to Brazil. Thomas Donohoe an engineer asked his wife Elizabeth to bring the first football from Busby in 1894, they settled with their 2 boys. One of the boys went onto be a star of Brazilian football and is said to have did the first bicycle kick in Brazil before Leonidas Dasilva popularised it throughout the world. Thomas organised a game in Bangu in the suburbs of Rio between workers in the calico factory he worked in.
The person most Brazilians call the father of Brazilian football is Charles Miller. His family were from Fairlie, but he was educated privately in England. He crucially brought the rule book and another 2 footballs and started the amateur league, was a referee, a player and a prominent figure for many years after organising the first official game amongst Railway workers and engineers and then forming the first amateur league.
Jock Hamilton from Ayr, was a coach at Fulham and he went to Brazil and brought structure to the amateurs with the system Ingleza that should actually be called the Scottish system.
How quickly did it come together? Or given the story and everyone involved, did it take a while?
For Colonel Mustard & The Dijon 5 it was one of the quickest songs we've got together from inception in Feb/March to recording April/May and then releasing in May/June. My Brother in Law and Dijon 5 percussionist Roddy Dickson , also happens to be the mestre in SambaYaBamba , he has been to Brazil many times and played with a couple of the top Samba schools there including Academicos da Rocinha (pronounced Haw-seen-ya). Parading in Carnival and is the Scottish member of Bloco X, who are the best of the best Samba players outside Brazil. As soon as the idea came , I knew it had to be samba and we've been threatening to write a samba song together for years, so worked out well.
Mikey Grant from the Dijon 5 came up with an amazing tune on the keyboard, Roddy sambafied it and I put the lyrics together, blending the football and textile imagery in it. It was hard squeezing 4 men into 2 verses , but we managed to do that and tell some of the main points of the story in as short and succinct way as possible. The Dijon 5 then added their individual stamps with horns, bass , guitar and vocals and for the EP version thats out now , we've included an instrumental, DJ 5 has done a house carnival remix and we bumped into an amazing Brazilian musician May Terra who has translated and sings on the Brazilian version 'Os Pais do Futebol Brasileiro'. Her vocals blow mine out the water. This is my favourite version.
What is your first memory of watching Brazil at a World Cup? Do you have a favourite Brazilian player?
I have a vague memory of watching Socrates with my Dad when i was around 3 or 4 at the Spain 1982 world cup and that memory being there because my Dad was pointing him out and talking about him , but so young its all very vague and more of an awareness. Mexico 1986 was the first real World Cup I remember.
Even though he was before my time Pele is probably my favourite Brazilian player, just from watching all the footage and watching Escape To Victory on repeat , the Colonel Mustard video 'Gay Icon' was our homage to that. In the 80s round about this time , playing football on the red ash pitch at St Barbaras in Muirhead , you used to baggsy what player you wanted to be and everyone would baggsy Maradona or Pele , a testament to his legacy.
At school you knew , even if you hadn't heard him or seen them that Jimi Hendrix was the greatest guitarist of all time and Pele the greatest footballer, but I love the Pele quote that blows that out the water. "To be the best footballer of all time , you have to be the best in every position".
My favourite Brazilian footballer of my time was Ronaldinho, who i believe is coming out of retirement after 11 years to join a Serie C side(oh he does like to be beside the C side) the style, flair, control and of course the goals, on his debut for Barcelona and of course against England. Just utter class. Unbridled talent. It's who Messi learned his trade from and its between him, Messi or Maradonna for most naturally gifted footballer of all time. They can see things instinctively that others don't.
In terms of goalscoring machines though Ronaldo Nazario (R9) takes some beating. Watching him age 17 at the 1994 world cup and I was travelling in Australia in 2002 when he was in a front 3 with Ronaldinho and Rivaldo. Scoring twice in the final. My son Charlie was asking to get the haircut, which may be the worst of all time , but is testament to his legend in the playgrounds of the modern era. That whole team with Roberto Carlos and Cafu. They were on another level.
You must be pleased by the reaction to the single. What has been your highlight to date?
Aye its been amazing. Getting a wee early play from Michelle McManus on one of her last few shows on BBC Radio Scotland started the momentum building nicely , then playing it with SambaYaBamba at Julie McNeill and Campbell Ramage 'We Are Scottish Football' book launch at West Scotland Cricket ground, then filming with the West Park United 2014 team at Springburn Park was cool, my sons team that I was coaching.
Playing a pop up show with SambaYaBamba and getting to do keepie uppies in Central Station and Ending up on Reporting Scotland. Meeting lots of the Brazilian community in Scotland there and when we were doing a food tasting challenge for Beths and Brownings the Bakers. Its been a great adventure and for all the down sides of streaming(mainly financially), watching our Brazilian Fanbase growing on all the streaming and social media platforms and the nice comments about the song from the Brazilian community have meant the most. Seeing tartan army pals like Murray from the Clutha and the Scottish Football Forum podcast spreading the word to the Tartan Army has been great and theyve done us so proud.
The icing on the cake though was today's (Monday 22nd) filming at Glebe Primary in Irvine for STV for the news on Wednesday , the day of the big game. We had members of the Dijon 5, SambaYaBamba and SYB Youth band and hundreds of kids and teachers all singing and dancing. You can't beat that feeling of connection with an audience and the excitement and spontaneity that music and football can create.
Have you seen the Kevin Bridges show on the iPlayer where he goes out to Brazil?
I thought the Kevin Bridges documentary was amazing, he is the Scottish everyman in so many ways and obviously the most relatable, funniest guy in Scotland. It had me in tears , had me laughing , i learned a few things. The scenes with Cafu and John McGinn were so good and in the favelas and going to the games were great. The quote that maybe went under some peoples radars was "Football without cans is nothing" the most clever writing and play on Jock Steins "football without fans is nothing" quote.
I love the fact they included some stuff about Thomas Donohoe. In a near perfect documentary my only criticism would have been , that they could have got an interview from Bangu A.C, as they have a museum there and some experts and maybe some stuff about Sao Paulo and Archie McLean and Jock Hamilton. If they do a follow up that would be great obviously with our song on the soundtrack.
Do you think we'll go through?
I think we will go through. Even if Brazil beat us with a low goal difference we can still qualify, but if the boys play at their best, we're more than capable of getting a result.
What are CMD5 plans for the rest of 2026?
Writing and recording more music as we're on a roll and all these gigs and festivals-
Sat 27th June 7.30pm Kilmarnock Fair Festival
17th-19th July Sat afternoon Back Doune The Rabbit Hole
Fri 31st July Belladrum Tartan Heart
Sun 2nd Aug - Fringe by the Sea North Berwick
Sun 9th Aug Party at The Palace
Fri 28th Aug - Caledonian Uni 150 year anniversary gig
3rd -5th September - Lindisfarne Festival
Sun 27th September Dumbarton Rocks
Sat 24th Oct Biggar Little Festival
Sun 29th Nov 12.00 Winterstorm, Troon Concert Hall
Lastly - who do you think will win the 2026 World Cup?
The Netherlands
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