Rik Mayall's World Cup Song 'Noble England' Enters UK Top Ten after Social Media Campaign

Rik Mayall's 2010 World Cup song Noble England has gone straight into the top 10 of the UK's official singles chart.

The 59-year-old funny man died suddenly in his home in South West London, on June 9. He suffered from an "acute cardiac event" after returning from a morning run, his widow said this week.

The world cup song track, originally recorded for Fabio Capello's England squad competing in South Africa, failed to enter the charts when it was first released.

Speaking at the time of the recording Mayall said of the track which included references from Henry V said: "Football chants are one of the great traditions of following football, and Shakespeare is also part of our national heritage. It seemed only natural that they should go together.

"I'm doing my bit, just like every other Englishman. As we stand shoulder-to-shoulder, doing our bit, stiff upper lip - apart from when you're screaming out the lyrics to Noble England," he added.

The song entered the countdown at number seven after the comedian's sudden death, following a social media campaign in his memory.

The campaign was launched by Jon Morter, who earlier initiated an online campaign to ensure Rage Against The Machine's beat X Factor winner Joe McElderry in the race to become the 2009 Christmas number one.

Mayall had an earlier number one record in 1986 with Cliff Richard and The Young One's with the parody of the track Living Doll.

The song for Comic Relief topped the charts in the U.K, Australia and New Zealand.

Meanwhile, his grieving wife Barbara Mayall said her family had received "thousands and thousands of messages of condolence" from around the world following the comic actor's death.

"We always knew that Rik was well loved but we are all overwhelmed by so many joining us in our grief," she said.

Former X Factor contestant Ella Henderson took the number one chart spot with her song Ghost.