You can be a rank insider as well as a rank outsider - Robert Frost

If I was a betting man, which I'm not, I'd gamble on this song, and in particular, this artist, breaking into the music business - but, I have to admit at being one of those supporters who had 'Rooney' printed on my Everton shirt three days before he signed for Manchester United...that makes me not particularly good in the prophecy stakes.  But it what does not do is make this lass any less talented than my forecasting skills. 

Victoria Pope is an unsigned act, who, unlike many, has remained level-headed in her pursuit of fame and stardom.  This is my rant towards the talentless bunch that ITV like to call the X-Factor.  So what has kept our 26 year-old starlet so level-headed and out of the limelight thus far?  Well, I'd like to think she has kept her feet on the ground because they are firmly entrenched in Hackney Marshes, and there was truly no better place to spend your childhood years, after all, 'if you can't play football on Hackney marshes, you can't play anywhere!'.
But shouldn't any young teenage girl be staying at home with her ponies, her make-up kit and the next offering from the stable that is the Stock, Aitken and Waterman pop song, well normally yes, but not our Victoria.  Little Miss Pope felt more at home listening to Stevie Wonder and Motown and all the time watched her big brother play football at the Marshes.  Kevin Pope was playing for Bow Athletic, which incidentally, was managed by Victoria's father also.  So her root's were firmly established, as you have read, in football.  A decent girl with a decent upbringing at last - not many of them on the music scene, I'm certain.  Kevin now manages Enfield in the Ryman League.

Here at England Football Online, we will back anything that is good and decent, we will recommend many products, providing it passes the strict E.L.O. testing procedure, basically, it has to be good, it has to be quality and most important of all, it has to be England.  If it isn't, then we don't mention it.  So to be honest, you will probably not hear us being too critical. 

That said, Victoria does have one shortcoming - she does support Tottenham Hotspur.  A shriek of horror continues into the classroom, where all her fellow classmates backed the Arsenal.  Such is life in the tough East end of London.  But that is what makes Victoria a vintage bottle of wine, and not the overly stocked shops-own brand... Why be part of the norm?  Why do you have to follow something or someone just because everyone else does and that must become the accepted way of life.  Be the followed, not the follower.  That's why when I was going to school in the 1980's, I supported Everton... while all the glory supporters around me punished me in their own unique schoolboy way because they supported Liverpool, and no-one followed me!  Victoria, like myself, never resorted to peer pressure - but Victoria, unlike myself, can sing.

Which brings us nicely onto Thug Lovin' - soon to be released - soon to be won in our exclusive competition, and hopefully, if we have anything to do with it, soon to be heard on your local radio station (assuming your local radio station is not Classic fm or a Christian sing-along station).  Thug Lovin' is surprisingly nearly a year old...written by Victoria herself with Rudy x in November 2005 and recorded in the bitter cold winter a month later.  It was in a recording studio 'Strongrooms', Ian Downing was the mix engineer, who had already worked with Simon Webbe, Snow Patrol, Busted, etc...  And for those real trivia-searching people out there, it was the exact same recording studio, Studio 1, that the Spice Girls recorded their first ever track.  So if ever their was a omen.... It took a mere twelve hours to record, but surely the end justified the means here.  A perfect sounding track.  And if you wondered who was playing the guitar solo at the end of the track, well that was Stanley Andrew, and he had just finished working with George Michael.  The song evolved from many humorous chorus lines to the final version - Thug Lovin.

This is just Victoria's humble opinion but when she looks back at footage of the 1966 World Cup there is an air of comradory that money could not buy, with individual players giving more to the game than simply honouring their contract, a sense of pride that goes beyond self-promotion and a hunger that cannot be compromised with money - which seems extremely rare nowadays.  Not to be insulting to the players of this generation, I just can't help but think: can you really have the eye of the tiger when you're getting paid 100k a week?

So do not be totally surprised if you see Miss Pope achieve her ultimate ambition, which is for her to sing a duet with Stevie Wonder or even Barbra Streisand and who know's? if she was really lucky, maybe sing with them both!!!  If that isn't enough, maybe even do a concert at the new Wembley Stadium and end the evening with the Dolly Parton classic '9 to 5' (as it's just such a funky tune).  Some of us would just be happy seeing the new Wembley Stadium open one day.

If Victoria Pope does make it big... just remember where you read about her first.  If Victoria had not of dedicated this song to the boys of '66, I would not have heard of her, I would not have heard her song and I would never have acquainted myself with such a talented songstress.  With this 'Thug Lovin' gal behind England, the Three Lions' future will at least sound hip, even if they don't play that way. 

Good luck Victoria, in all your ambitions....

This interview is based on an actual e-mail conversation between Victoria Pope and Chris Goodwin.