TOTTENHAM are being chased for royalties after adopting a Barry Manilow song before home games.
The Premier League club regularly blast out the crooner’s version of Can’t Smile Without You.
Now one of the hit tune’s three-man writing team — a fan of North London rivals Arsenal — has threatened a legal battle and blasted Spurs for refusing to cough up.
The song has become a fan favourite, with home supporters joining in before games at the £1billion Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Spurs even used a Can’t Smile Without You banner to cover empty seats when matches were played without fans during the pandemic.
Geoff Morrow, who helped write it in 1975, branded the club “ridiculous” after turning down his request for payments.
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He told The Sun: “I hoped that Spurs would be willing to sit down and meet with me to discuss this but they haven’t been interested.
“When we wrote the song, we never imagined it would become a football anthem.
“It was written as a love song.
“What is really frustrating is Spurs won’t accept they are using our song.”
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Other clubs pay royalties for songs crowds sing along to, including Liverpool for You’ll Never Walk Alone,
But Tottenham argue his claim has no legal basis under licence rules, The Sun understands.
The club did not comment.
TOP MANILOW SONGS SPURS COULD USE INSTEAD
HERE’S some other Barry Manilow songs Tottenham could use instead of Can’t Smile Without You:
- Kudus It Be Magic
- Jer-Mandy-foe
- I Write The Bassongs
- FA Cupacabana
- Bergvall Triangle
- I Wanna Do It With Younes Kaboul
- Looks Like We (Nearly) Made It