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:''"Football Song" redirects here. For the song by [[Chumbawamba]], see [[Tubthumper#Track listing|here]].''
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A '''football chant''', also referred to as a '''terrace chant''', is a term that refers to songs or chants sung at [[Association football|football]] (i.e soccer) matches. They can be historic, dating back to the formation of the club, adaptions of popular songs, or spontaneous reactions to events on the pitch. They are one of the last remaining sources of an oral folk song tradition in the United Kingdom.<ref>Chris Roberts, Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind Rhyme, Thorndike Press,2006 (ISBN 0-7862-8517-6)</ref> Traditions vary from country to country and from team to team, but they are generally used either to encourage the home team or to slight the opposition.
A '''football chant''', also referred to as a '''terrace chant''', is a term that refers to songs or chants sung at [[Association football|football]] (American "soccer") matches. They can be historic, dating back to the formation of the club, adaptions of popular songs, or spontaneous reactions to events on the pitch. They are one of the last remaining sources of an oral folk song tradition in the United Kingdom.<ref>Chris Roberts, Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind Rhyme, Thorndike Press,2006 (ISBN 0-7862-8517-6)</ref> Traditions vary from country to country and from team to team, but they are generally used either to encourage the home team or slight the opposition. It should be noted, that not only do fans sings songs to directly slight the opposition they are playing that day, many teams sing songs about their club [[sports rivalry|rivals]], even if they are not playing them.



==Chant Laureate==
==Chant Laureate==

On 11 May 2004, [[Jonny Hurst]] was chosen as England's first "Chant Laureate". [[Barclaycard]] set up the competition to choose a Chant Laureate, to be paid £10,000 to tour [[FA Premier League|Premier League]] stadia and compose chants for the [[2004-05 in English football|2004-05 football season]]. The judging panel was chaired by the [[Poet Laureate]] [[Andrew Motion]], who said ''"What we felt we were tapping into was a huge reservoir of folk poetry."''<ref name="BBC News040511">{{cite news |title=Football's first Chant Laureate|publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=2004-05-11 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3702313.stm|accessdate=2007-07-19}}</ref>
On 11 May 2004, [[Jonny Hurst]] was chosen as England's first "Chant Laureate". [[Barclaycard]] set up the competition to choose a Chant Laureate, to be paid £10,000 to tour [[FA Premier League|Premier League]] stadia and compose chants for the [[2004-05 in English football|2004-05 football season]]. The judging panel was chaired by the [[Poet Laureate]] [[Andrew Motion]], who said ''"What we felt we were tapping into was a huge reservoir of folk poetry."''<ref name="BBC News040511">{{cite news |title=Football's first Chant Laureate|publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=2004-05-11 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3702313.stm|accessdate=2007-07-19}}</ref>

==In Australia==

The tune of Handel's [[Hallelujah Chorus]] is used primarily in Australia for "You're a wanker! You're a wanker!", aimed at controversial players by opposing fans.
[[Sydney FC]] fans routinely sing an altered version of [[The Beatles]]' popular song [[Hey Jude]], adding the word Sydney in during the chorus.

[[Melbourne Victory]] fans often sing the main riff of [[Seven Nation Army]] after scoring a goal.

The fans of A-League based side [[Wellington Phoenix]], chant a slower and shortened version of [[Johnny Cash]]'s [[Ring of Fire (song)|Ring of Fire]].

==In Italy==

A common Italian chant would is the hymm to ''[[Seven Nation Army]]'' by [[The White Stripes]]. Oh Ohohohoh Oh (and repeated several times.) In Italian football, it is also common to sing the home team (or supporting team's) name followed by a closing words or sounds. For example, Juventus fans would chant: JUVE JUVE HAAAA while Inter fans sing the chorus to "Pazza Inter" by singing AMALA, PAZZA INTER, AMALA. This chant is also used by Melbourne Victory fans in Australia, the chant is used after a goal is scored.

==In the United Kingdom==

[[Football in the United Kingdom|British football]] has a wide range of chants; some are specific to certain clubs, whilst others are used by almost all fans. The tunes, and sometimes the words, are often based on well-known songs.


===Chants based on hymns===

Several football chants are based on [[hymn]]s, with ''[[Cwm Rhondda]]'' (also known as ''Guide me, O thou great redeemer'') being one of the most popular tunes to copy. Amongst others, it has spawned the songs ''Can we play you every week??'' (sung at opposition teams, usually a team currently performing poorly).

''[[Lord of the Dance (hymn)|Lord of the Dance]]'' spawned ''[[Carefree (chant)|Carefree]]'', a chant particularly associated with [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]], (Liverpool fans recently adapted it to be an anti-Chelsea chant with the lyrics ''You ain't got no history/five European cups and eigheen leagues/that's what we call history'' whilst there have been various adaptations of ''[[When The Saints Go Marching In (sport)|When The Saints Go Marching In]]''. Another version of [[Lord of the Dance]] was sung by fans of [[Heart of Midlothian]] during their successful Scottish Cup campaign of 1997-98, culminating in their win over [[Glasgow Rangers]]. [[Lord of the Dance]] is also the tune for the controversial Tottenham song abusing Sol Campbell.<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite news |title=Sol Campbells return to White Hart Lane turns spotlight on vitriolic fans |publisher=[[Daily Telegraph]] |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/tottenham/4278732/Sol-Campbells-return-to-White-Hart-Lane-turns-spotlight-on-vitriolic-fans-Fooball.html|accessdate=2009-04-03}}</ref>

===Chants based on pop songs===

Several football chants are based on [[Pop music|pop songs]]. ''[[Go West (song)|Go West]]'' is one of the most popular, with its tune used for ''1-0 to the [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]]''' (or other teams winning by various scores), [[Stand Up! (song)|Stand Up]], [[Les Reed]] and ''No noise from the pasta boys'' (coined by [[Ipswich Town]] fans during their home win against [[Inter]].) amongst others. ''He's got a pineapple on his head'' was a parody of ''[[He's Got the Whole World in His Hands]]'' aimed at [[Jason Lee (footballer)|Jason Lee]] due to his distinctive hairstyle. ''[[Hi Ho Silver Lining]]'' has been adapted by several clubs, Firstly by [[Sheffield Wednesday F.C.|Sheffield Wednesday]] and then later on Aston Villa and [[Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.|Wolverhampton Wanderers]] (''Hi Ho [[Aston Villa]]/[[Sheffield Wednesday]]/[[Wolverhampton]]''). The chorus of ''[[Oops Upside Your Head]]'' became ''Ooh, ah, [[Eric Cantona|Cantona]]/[[Paul McGrath (footballer)|McGrath]]/ [[Georgios Samaras|Samaras]]'', whilst [[Winter Wonderland]] is often used for popular players ([[England national football team|England]] fans sang ''Walking in an [[Michael Owen|Owen]] wonderland'' following his goal against [[Russia national football team|Russia]] in 2007). [[Newcastle United F.C.|Newcastle]] fans also sang the song for [[Kevin Keegan]] when protesting his departure. The tune from ''[[Tom Hark]]'' by [[The Piranhas]], which is played at many stadiums following a goal by the home team, is used for ''[[Premier League, You're Havin' A Laugh]]''. The tune for the Band Aid song ''Do They Know It's Christmas?'' forms the basis for the ''Feed the Scousers'' chant often sung against the supporters of Merseyside clubs (predominantly [[Liverpool F.C.]]) during the Christmas period. Numerous chants are based upon [[Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag]] by [[Pigbag]], notably by [[Middlesbrough FC]] and [[Queens Park Rangers]] but also by many other clubs, often by incorporating the name of a player into the tune of the song. Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash is used in several chants. The song [[The Best (song)|'(Simply) The Best']] performed by [[Tina Turner]] was banned from matches involving [[Glasgow Rangers]] after [[sectarian]] lyrics aimed at rivals [[Glasgow Celtic]] were added by fans<ref>[http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/article2371887.ece Rangers facing Euro ban after sectarian video is posted on net - Local & National, News - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

[[Three Lions]], the official England anthem for [[UEFA Euro 1996|Euro '96]], is the inspiration for ''We're going up'', sung by supporters who believe their team are going to be [[Promotion and relegation|promoted]] and has been adapted in the 08/09 season to be directed at [[Rafael Benítez]] as ''He's cracking up'' after his famous outburst against Manchester United manager [[Alex Ferguson]]. In 1998 when [[Graham Rix]] was convicted of having sexual intercourse with an underage girl, football fans came with the chant "If you tolerate Rix, then your children will be next" to the tune of the [[Manic Street Preachers]] song [[If You Tolerate This]].

Another song, mostly adopted by West Ham United supporters, came from the song 'That's Amore' by Dean Martin. It is sung to Bobby Zamora with the word Amore being replace by Zamora. This chant was released as a pop song and can be heard when you are put on hold at the club. It is also chanted to random players such as John Pantsil. This song was first used by Brighton fans but West Ham fans added "He comes from Shite Hart Lane He's better than Jermain (Defoe)" after the 2005 Championship play-off final where Zamora helped West Ham win the cup.

===Chants based on other songs===

Aside from hymns and pop songs, there are several other songs from which football chants have taken the tune and/or words. The tune of ''[[Camptown Races]]'' is used for ''[[Two World Wars, One World Cup]]'', and ''[[Ten Green Bottles]]'' became ''[[Ten German Bombers]]'' (with the tune of ''[[She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain]]),'' both songs used by England fans to slight their main rivals, [[Germany]].

The "Glory Glory" chorus of ''[[The Battle Hymn of the Republic]]'' has been used by various teams (e.g. ''[[Glory Glory Tottenham Hotspur]]'', ''[[Glory Glory Leeds United]]'', ''[[Glory Glory Man United]]''). But Hibernian were (arguably) the first team to popularise the song with the release of a record by Hector Nicol in the 1950s (Glory Glory to the Hibees). The record is played at Easter Road prior to every home game. Hibs supporters, The Proclaimers have also sung the song during live performances, ie at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh, and during a live airing of the TV show "The Fat" on Australia's ABC TV.

''[[Knees Up Mother Brown]]'' is the basis of ''[[Who Ate All The Pies?]]'' and a song sung by many teams in the [[Football League]] though rarely, if ever, by teams in the [[English Premier League|Premier League]] which starts ''"EIEIEIO, Up the Football League we go,"'' whilst [[Guantanamera]] is the basis of songs such as ''"One [[David Beckham]], there's only one [[David Beckham]]"'', or a song sung as a slur to the opposition, belittling the club's home city/town, which goes ''"You're just a small town/bus stop in ________"'', generally replacing the name of the town/city that the club comes from, with the name of a nearby town/city, or one of the club's local rivals, so a team from [[London]] often get sung to them: ''"You're just a small town in [[Watford]]"'', teams from [[Birmingham]] often get sung to be from [[Walsall]], [[Manchester]] from [[Wigan]], [[Cardiff]] from [[Swansea]] etc. Other examples include the tune of ''[[The Wild Rover]]'' being used for the song ''The greatest football team the world has ever seen'' and [[My Old Man (Football)|My Old Man]] as an adaptation of [[My Old Man (Said Follow the Van)]].

''[[My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean]]'' has been re-worked by sevral clubs to slight the club's closets rivals, for example: ''"If I had the Wings of an Eagle, if I had the arse of a crow, I'd fly over [[Nottingham Forest F.C.|Nottingham Forest]] (or a close rival of the club's fans]] and shit on the bastards below, below, shit on, shit on, shit on th ebastards below, below!'"'

Even [[nursery rhyme]]s have been used, with ''[[The Farmer in the Dell]]'' becoming ''[[Ee Aye Addio]]''.

===Cup specific chants===

Some songs are generally reserved for cup matches (i.e. [[FA Cup]], [[Football League Cup]], [[Football League Trophy]], [[FA Trophy]] and [[FA Vase]]) where the venue of the final is [[Wembley Stadium]]. Examples include an adaption of ''[[Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)]]'' (Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be), we're going to Wembley), ''[[If You're All Going to Wembley Clap Your Hands]]'' (to the tune of ''[[She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain]]'') and ''We're on our way to Wembley''

The chant ''We are the Champions, Champions of Europe'' is often chanted by fans of [[Leeds United]] with regards to the events of the [[1975 European Cup Final]], it was first sung by fans of [[Manchester United]] in 1968/69 and again in 1999/2000 and in the 08/09 season, with United European Champions in 2008.

===Others===

Some chants are not tune specific. These include ''Dirty Northern/Soft Southern bastards'', ''England's Number One'' (aimed at [[goalkeeper (football)|goalkeepers]]), ''[[Oggy Oggy Oggy]]'', or just simply chanting "Olé" when a team is winning handsomely and is passing the ball between its own players. Often simply chanting the name of the side or nation is used, often in combination with rhythmic clapping. Notable example are the [[U-S-A! cheer]] and the ''England...England'' chant.

== Club-specific songs ==

Some football teams also have songs which are traditionally sung by their fans, such as [[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool's]] [[You'll Never Walk Alone (song)|You'll Never Walk Alone]],<ref>''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AXxf52k0cE Liverpool vs Leeds United]'', [[British Broadcasting Corporation]], [[1965 FA Cup Final|F.A. Cup Final, 1965]]. The song was covered by Liverpool group [[Gerry & The Pacemakers]] in 1963. At this time, supporters standing on the [[Spion Kop (stadia)|Spion Kop]] terrace at [[Anfield]] began singing popular chart songs of the day. The mood was captured on camera by a BBC [[Panorama (TV series)|Panorama]] camera crew in 1964. One year later, when Liverpool faced Leeds in the [[FA Cup final]], the travelling Kop sang the same song and match commentator [[Kenneth Wolstenholme]] commended the "Liverpool signature tune".</ref> [[West Ham United F.C.|West Ham United's]] [[I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles]] and [[Leeds United AFC|Leeds United's]] [[Marching On Together]]. It must be noted that with some clubs, particularly those in the US, songs are only recognized as a team song by a relatively small section of the team's fans. For example, "Stand By Me" is only recognized as the team song of the New York Red Bulls by a relatively small section of supporters and is seldom (if ever) played over the loudspeakers. This is in contrast with teams such as Liverpool and West Ham where their anthem is sung by just about all of their team supporters.

=== Original songs ===

Some songs were created especially for a club or a specific event. examples include ''Singing the Blues'' ([[Ipswich Town]]), ''[[Marching on Together]] (Leeds!Leeds!Leeds!)'' for [[Leeds United]] and ''Let's All Sing Together'' for [[Coventry City]], penned by former Coventry manager [[Jimmy Hill]].

== National Team-specific songs ==

*[[Republic of Ireland national football team|Republic of Ireland]] - "Boys in Green", "You'll never beat the Irish", "[[The Fields of Athenry]]", "Ole Ole", "[[Amhran na bhFiann]]"
*[[England national football team|England]] - "[[God Save The Queen]]", "[[Rule Britannia]]", "[[No Surrender]]", "[[Ten German Bombers]]", "[[United We Stand (song)|United We Stand]]", "[[Three Lions]]"
*[[Northern Ireland national football team|Northern Ireland]] - "We're not Brazil we're Northern Ireland", "Away in a manger ([[David Healy|Heeelaayy]])", "Stand up for the Ulstermen"
*[[Scotland national football team|Scotland]] - "[[Flower of Scotland]]","[[Loch Lomond]]",[[We Have A Dream]], "[[Do-Re-Mi]]", "[[I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)]]", "We'll Be Coming", "Everywhere We Go"
*[[Wales national football team|Wales]] - "[[Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau]]", "[[Can't Take My Eyes Off You]]"
*[[Netherlands national football team|The Netherlands]] - "[[Wij houden van Oranje]]", "Hup, Holland, Hup", "Viva Holandia"
*[[Mexico national football team|Mexico]] - "[[Cielito Lindo]]", "Chiquitibum"


==See also==
==See also==

*[[List of UK hit singles by footballers]]
*[[List of UK hit singles by footballers]]


Revision as of 22:19, 17 February 2010

"Football Song" redirects here. For the song by Chumbawamba, see here.

A football chant, also referred to as a terrace chant, is a term that refers to songs or chants sung at football (American "soccer") matches. They can be historic, dating back to the formation of the club, adaptions of popular songs, or spontaneous reactions to events on the pitch. They are one of the last remaining sources of an oral folk song tradition in the United Kingdom.[1] Traditions vary from country to country and from team to team, but they are generally used either to encourage the home team or slight the opposition. It should be noted, that not only do fans sings songs to directly slight the opposition they are playing that day, many teams sing songs about their club rivals, even if they are not playing them.

Chant Laureate

On 11 May 2004, Jonny Hurst was chosen as England's first "Chant Laureate". Barclaycard set up the competition to choose a Chant Laureate, to be paid £10,000 to tour Premier League stadia and compose chants for the 2004-05 football season. The judging panel was chaired by the Poet Laureate Andrew Motion, who said "What we felt we were tapping into was a huge reservoir of folk poetry."[2]

In Australia

The tune of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus is used primarily in Australia for "You're a wanker! You're a wanker!", aimed at controversial players by opposing fans.

Sydney FC fans routinely sing an altered version of The Beatles' popular song Hey Jude, adding the word Sydney in during the chorus.

Melbourne Victory fans often sing the main riff of Seven Nation Army after scoring a goal.

The fans of A-League based side Wellington Phoenix, chant a slower and shortened version of Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire.

In Italy

A common Italian chant would is the hymm to Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes. Oh Ohohohoh Oh (and repeated several times.) In Italian football, it is also common to sing the home team (or supporting team's) name followed by a closing words or sounds. For example, Juventus fans would chant: JUVE JUVE HAAAA while Inter fans sing the chorus to "Pazza Inter" by singing AMALA, PAZZA INTER, AMALA. This chant is also used by Melbourne Victory fans in Australia, the chant is used after a goal is scored.

In the United Kingdom

British football has a wide range of chants; some are specific to certain clubs, whilst others are used by almost all fans. The tunes, and sometimes the words, are often based on well-known songs.


Chants based on hymns

Several football chants are based on hymns, with Cwm Rhondda (also known as Guide me, O thou great redeemer) being one of the most popular tunes to copy. Amongst others, it has spawned the songs Can we play you every week?? (sung at opposition teams, usually a team currently performing poorly).

Lord of the Dance spawned Carefree, a chant particularly associated with Chelsea, (Liverpool fans recently adapted it to be an anti-Chelsea chant with the lyrics You ain't got no history/five European cups and eigheen leagues/that's what we call history whilst there have been various adaptations of When The Saints Go Marching In. Another version of Lord of the Dance was sung by fans of Heart of Midlothian during their successful Scottish Cup campaign of 1997-98, culminating in their win over Glasgow Rangers. Lord of the Dance is also the tune for the controversial Tottenham song abusing Sol Campbell.[3]

Chants based on pop songs

Several football chants are based on pop songs. Go West is one of the most popular, with its tune used for 1-0 to the Arsenal' (or other teams winning by various scores), Stand Up, Les Reed and No noise from the pasta boys (coined by Ipswich Town fans during their home win against Inter.) amongst others. He's got a pineapple on his head was a parody of He's Got the Whole World in His Hands aimed at Jason Lee due to his distinctive hairstyle. Hi Ho Silver Lining has been adapted by several clubs, Firstly by Sheffield Wednesday and then later on Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers (Hi Ho Aston Villa/Sheffield Wednesday/Wolverhampton). The chorus of Oops Upside Your Head became Ooh, ah, Cantona/McGrath/ Samaras, whilst Winter Wonderland is often used for popular players (England fans sang Walking in an Owen wonderland following his goal against Russia in 2007). Newcastle fans also sang the song for Kevin Keegan when protesting his departure. The tune from Tom Hark by The Piranhas, which is played at many stadiums following a goal by the home team, is used for Premier League, You're Havin' A Laugh. The tune for the Band Aid song Do They Know It's Christmas? forms the basis for the Feed the Scousers chant often sung against the supporters of Merseyside clubs (predominantly Liverpool F.C.) during the Christmas period. Numerous chants are based upon Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag by Pigbag, notably by Middlesbrough FC and Queens Park Rangers but also by many other clubs, often by incorporating the name of a player into the tune of the song. Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash is used in several chants. The song '(Simply) The Best' performed by Tina Turner was banned from matches involving Glasgow Rangers after sectarian lyrics aimed at rivals Glasgow Celtic were added by fans[4]

Three Lions, the official England anthem for Euro '96, is the inspiration for We're going up, sung by supporters who believe their team are going to be promoted and has been adapted in the 08/09 season to be directed at Rafael Benítez as He's cracking up after his famous outburst against Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson. In 1998 when Graham Rix was convicted of having sexual intercourse with an underage girl, football fans came with the chant "If you tolerate Rix, then your children will be next" to the tune of the Manic Street Preachers song If You Tolerate This.

Another song, mostly adopted by West Ham United supporters, came from the song 'That's Amore' by Dean Martin. It is sung to Bobby Zamora with the word Amore being replace by Zamora. This chant was released as a pop song and can be heard when you are put on hold at the club. It is also chanted to random players such as John Pantsil. This song was first used by Brighton fans but West Ham fans added "He comes from Shite Hart Lane He's better than Jermain (Defoe)" after the 2005 Championship play-off final where Zamora helped West Ham win the cup.

Chants based on other songs

Aside from hymns and pop songs, there are several other songs from which football chants have taken the tune and/or words. The tune of Camptown Races is used for Two World Wars, One World Cup, and Ten Green Bottles became Ten German Bombers (with the tune of She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain), both songs used by England fans to slight their main rivals, Germany.

The "Glory Glory" chorus of The Battle Hymn of the Republic has been used by various teams (e.g. Glory Glory Tottenham Hotspur, Glory Glory Leeds United, Glory Glory Man United). But Hibernian were (arguably) the first team to popularise the song with the release of a record by Hector Nicol in the 1950s (Glory Glory to the Hibees). The record is played at Easter Road prior to every home game. Hibs supporters, The Proclaimers have also sung the song during live performances, ie at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh, and during a live airing of the TV show "The Fat" on Australia's ABC TV.

Knees Up Mother Brown is the basis of Who Ate All The Pies? and a song sung by many teams in the Football League though rarely, if ever, by teams in the Premier League which starts "EIEIEIO, Up the Football League we go," whilst Guantanamera is the basis of songs such as "One David Beckham, there's only one David Beckham", or a song sung as a slur to the opposition, belittling the club's home city/town, which goes "You're just a small town/bus stop in ________", generally replacing the name of the town/city that the club comes from, with the name of a nearby town/city, or one of the club's local rivals, so a team from London often get sung to them: "You're just a small town in Watford", teams from Birmingham often get sung to be from Walsall, Manchester from Wigan, Cardiff from Swansea etc. Other examples include the tune of The Wild Rover being used for the song The greatest football team the world has ever seen and My Old Man as an adaptation of My Old Man (Said Follow the Van).

My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean has been re-worked by sevral clubs to slight the club's closets rivals, for example: "If I had the Wings of an Eagle, if I had the arse of a crow, I'd fly over Nottingham Forest (or a close rival of the club's fans]] and shit on the bastards below, below, shit on, shit on, shit on th ebastards below, below!'"'

Even nursery rhymes have been used, with The Farmer in the Dell becoming Ee Aye Addio.

Cup specific chants

Some songs are generally reserved for cup matches (i.e. FA Cup, Football League Cup, Football League Trophy, FA Trophy and FA Vase) where the venue of the final is Wembley Stadium. Examples include an adaption of Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be) (Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be), we're going to Wembley), If You're All Going to Wembley Clap Your Hands (to the tune of She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain) and We're on our way to Wembley

The chant We are the Champions, Champions of Europe is often chanted by fans of Leeds United with regards to the events of the 1975 European Cup Final, it was first sung by fans of Manchester United in 1968/69 and again in 1999/2000 and in the 08/09 season, with United European Champions in 2008.

Others

Some chants are not tune specific. These include Dirty Northern/Soft Southern bastards, England's Number One (aimed at goalkeepers), Oggy Oggy Oggy, or just simply chanting "Olé" when a team is winning handsomely and is passing the ball between its own players. Often simply chanting the name of the side or nation is used, often in combination with rhythmic clapping. Notable example are the U-S-A! cheer and the England...England chant.

Club-specific songs

Some football teams also have songs which are traditionally sung by their fans, such as Liverpool's You'll Never Walk Alone,[5] West Ham United's I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles and Leeds United's Marching On Together. It must be noted that with some clubs, particularly those in the US, songs are only recognized as a team song by a relatively small section of the team's fans. For example, "Stand By Me" is only recognized as the team song of the New York Red Bulls by a relatively small section of supporters and is seldom (if ever) played over the loudspeakers. This is in contrast with teams such as Liverpool and West Ham where their anthem is sung by just about all of their team supporters.

Original songs

Some songs were created especially for a club or a specific event. examples include Singing the Blues (Ipswich Town), Marching on Together (Leeds!Leeds!Leeds!) for Leeds United and Let's All Sing Together for Coventry City, penned by former Coventry manager Jimmy Hill.

National Team-specific songs

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Chris Roberts, Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind Rhyme, Thorndike Press,2006 (ISBN 0-7862-8517-6)
  2. ^ "Football's first Chant Laureate". BBC News. 2004-05-11. Retrieved 2007-07-19.
  3. ^ "Sol Campbells return to White Hart Lane turns spotlight on vitriolic fans". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2009-04-03.
  4. ^ Rangers facing Euro ban after sectarian video is posted on net - Local & National, News - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  5. ^ Liverpool vs Leeds United, British Broadcasting Corporation, F.A. Cup Final, 1965. The song was covered by Liverpool group Gerry & The Pacemakers in 1963. At this time, supporters standing on the Spion Kop terrace at Anfield began singing popular chart songs of the day. The mood was captured on camera by a BBC Panorama camera crew in 1964. One year later, when Liverpool faced Leeds in the FA Cup final, the travelling Kop sang the same song and match commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme commended the "Liverpool signature tune".

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Football_chant&oldid=344698569"