The Pogues' Fairytale of New York tipped for Christmas number one

22 November 2023, 14:32 | Updated: 22 November 2023, 14:34

According to William Hill, The Pogues' iconic festive track has 'short odds' to top the UK's singles chart this Christmas.

The Pogues' Fairytale of New York is being tipped to score a Christmas number one this year.

Now that LadBaby have confirmed they won't be releasing festive song this year, odds have shortened for the iconic festive track, which features Shane MacGowan singing alongside the late Kirsty MacColl.

According to William Hill, the 1988 single has odds of 4/6 to score a Christmas number one, followed by Wham!'s Last Christmas, which has odds of 5/1 and The Beatles' Now And Then, which has odds of 6/1.

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Spokesperson for William Hill, Lee Phelps, said: “LadBaby have made Christmas single headlines once again this year, but this time with the announcement that they will not be releasing one. Subsequently we’ve seen The Pogues shorten to 4/6 favourites to claim this year’s Christmas Number One with their infamous Christmas single, Fairytale of New York.

“The band were Evens to top the Christmas Charts for the first time last week but are now odds-on favourites with five-time chart toppers LadBaby out of the reckoning.

“The rest of the list is not short of big names with Wham! next in line at 5/1, whilst The Beatles (6/1), Andrea Bocelli, The Sidemen, and Mariah Carey (all 8/1) will all still fancy their chances.”

See the odds for a Christmas number one single below:

• The Pogues - 4/6
• Wham! - 5/1
• The Beatles 6/1
• Andrea Bocelli - 8/1
• Sidemen 8/1
• Mariah Carey - 8/1
• Taylor Swift - 9/1
• Ed Sheeran 9/1
• BAR 10/1

The Pogues - Fairytale Of New York (Official Video)

The ever-popular Christmas song could be getting even more of a boost, due to The Pogues frontman's recent hospitalisation and health issues.

Shane MacGowan's wife Victoria Mary Clarke gave fans an update on the legend, writing on X (formerly Twitter): "I just wanted to say a massive thanks to everyone who has been messaging me and ⁦@ShaneMacGowan⁩ and thank you ⁦@spiderstacy⁩ and Terry Woods for coming to visit him".

She added: "love and prayers for everyone who is struggling right now [...] hang in there!"

Though it's not clear what the reason was for MacGowan's stay, the Irish star suffers from Encephalitis- a serious condition in which the brain becomes inflamed.

The message came shortly after Clarke shared a heartfelt post on Instagram, which described her spectrum of emotions and feelings for her husband.

Sharing a photo of her kissing MacGowan in his hospital bed: "Love is the most beautiful and powerful thing that we can experience as humans but love can also feel painful especially if you are afraid of losing a person or anything else that you love."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Victoria Mary Clarke Angels (@victoriamaryclarke)

She continued: "A lot of the time that thing we call love can more accurately be described as attachment or desire or need or longing or closeness or connection," she continued. "And all of these are totally valuable and human and we need to acknowledge and appreciate and accept every part of our experience."

She added: "But sometimes when you love very deeply you will find yourself facing terrifying fears of loss that can feel so big and devastating that you don’t know how you can survive them and you can’t imagine life without this person that you love.

"It’s in these moments when you are staring into the abyss that you have an opportunity to expand your consciousness beyond the limitations of your mind."

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