GEORDIE football fans had something else to sing about last night after experts voted them top of the North-East's terrace chanters.

Newcastle United fans were rated the fourth most tuneful singers by a University of York study, which analysed supporters' songs around the country.

Other teams from the region fared less well, with Sunderland fans finishing 12th and less tuneful Middlesbrough supporters a lowly 14th.

Top chanters were fans from Southampton, followed by Manchester United and Derby County. Bolton finished last.

The survey was carried out by professor David Howard, who studied recordings of crowd singing at every Premiership ground.

He compared the wall of sound fans created with a range of notes, to decide how in or out of tune they were.

Michael Martin, of the Newcastle United fanzine, True Faith, said: "It shows that the Toon Army are a lot more vocal than the Sunderland and Middlesbrough fans.

"The fans are obviously performing well in the stands by the sounds of it. We'll cheer them on whatever happens."

Last night, Boro fans played down the survey.

Dave Buckton, chairman of the Official Middlesbrough Supporters Club, said: "Chanting comes from the diaphragm and I think Boro supporters are among the best singers in the country. It does depend a bit on how your team is playing.

"Maybe if they introduce opera singers to sing before matches, to give fans a bit of practice, it will help."

Nic Gault of Barclaycard, which financed the survey, said: "It's fascinating to finally find out which fans really are the best singers, but the quality of the singing is not necessarily reflected by results on the pitch."