Interesting post from hookway on the Ian Hunter forum about whether the lyric was really "Cleveland" before "England":

That was before the Campbell Devine book and the numerous interviews etc where Ian insists that Cleveland was first.

Now, far be it from me to argue the point with the songwriter… who would obviously know.

But my original observation still stands… ‘England Rocks’ is the superior lyric… which makes way more sense in context.

‘ER’ is all about the London punk scene circa 1976… girls with crimson lips and safety pins… Malcom McLaren’s club kids.

"Energy calling me… back where I came from." …Ian is referencing the new scene he is hearing about from afar in the UK music press.

"Got some badges from World War II" …lots of the punks wore vintage / mostly Nazi badges… looking like "villains".

The changes for ‘Cleveland Rocks’… "where it came from"… "records" instead of badges… "rocker" instead of villain… didn’t seem to fit and always felt like a forced re-write to me. They took something away from the song… and resulted in me much preferring the "original" ever since.

I get what Ian is saying when he talks about Cleveland and their embracing things first etc etc… but I still think ‘England Rocks’ is the more rounded / thought-out lyric.