AN Irish rebel song banned at Scottish football matches has soared to 24 in the top 40 singles chart after a campaign by a group of Celtic fans.

Roll of Honour is associated with the 1981 Maze Prison hunger strikes, but has gone ahead of tracks by Rihanna, Katy Perry and Avicii.

Fans Against Criminalisation (FAC), which has been set up to oppose the controversial Offensive Behaviour At Football Act, were behind the release of Roll Of Honour in a bid to "embarrass the hypocrites who seek to criminalise us".

Since the announcement earlier this month thousands of fans have been busy downloading the track from iTunes.

The Official Charts website read: "The Irish Brigade's Roll Of Honour is set to climb into the UK Top 40 this weekend.

"Originally released in the 80s, the Irish protest song has shot to Number 24 due to a campaign by Celtic fans who are opposed to the Scottish Government's Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012 being enforced."