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Football chant

A football chant or terrace chant is form of vocalisation performed by supporters of association football, typically during football matches. Football chanting is an expression of collective identity, most often used by fans to express their pride in the team or encourage the home team, and they may be sung to celebrate a particular player or manager. Fans may also use football chants to slight the opposition, and many fans sing songs about their club rivals, even when they are not playing them. Sometimes the chants are spontaneous reactions to events on the pitch.

"Football Song" redirects here. For the song by Matt Fishel, see Football Song (song).

Football chants can be simple, consisting of a few loud shouts or spoken words, but more often they are short lines of lyrics and sometimes longer songs. They are typically performed repetitively, sometimes accompanied by handclapping, but occasionally they may be more elaborate involving musical instruments, props or choreographed routines. They are often adaptations of popular songs, using their tunes as the basis of the chants, but some are original.


Football chants are known to have been used by fans from the late 19th century onwards, but developed into the current popular forms in the 1960s. Football chants can be historic, dating back as early as the formation of the club popularly sung down the years and considered the anthems for these clubs. They may also be popular for only a relatively short time, with new chants being constantly created and discarded. The tradition of football chants vary from country to country and team to team, but some chants are common to many clubs and popular internationally. Football chants may be considered one of the last remaining sources of an oral folk song tradition.[2]

Chants based on hymns and classical music[edit]

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 song "You're not singing anymore!",[76] "We support our local team!", and "I will never be a Blue!".


Various teams have used the "Glory Glory" chant (used by "Tottenham Hotspur", "Leeds United", "Manchester United", etc.), to the tune of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic". Hibernian were the first team to use the song with the release of a record by Hector Nicol in the 1950s ("Glory Glory to the Hibees").[77]


The Stars and Stripes Forever is often sung with the words "Here we go, here we go, here we go!".


There have been various adaptations of "When The Saints Go Marching In" (e.g. by fans of Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur), and the tune of Handel's Hallelujah chorus.


Many football crowd chants/songs are to the tune of "La donna è mobile" from Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto, for example the chant by Derby County fans in honour of Fabrizio Ravanelli of "We've got Fabrizio, you've got fuck allio".[78]


Italian tifosi employ various operatic arie, especially those by Giuseppe Verdi, for chants. For Parma's home matches at the Stadio Ennio Tardini, during the entry of the teams in the field, Aida's triumphal march resounds as Verdi is a symbol of the city.


Italian Torino fans sing their signature chant Toro alè to the tune of French anthem "La Marseillaise". The anthem theme was first popularized as a chant by A.S. Roma's curva sud after a 3-1 match win against Juventus on 30 January 1977. The anthem has also been modified by the RC Lens fans.


French PSG fans sing a rendition of "Flower of Scotland".


Arsenal fans have been singing "Good old Arsenal" to the tune of Rule Britannia since the 1970-71 season when they won the double.

Chants based on spirituals and folk songs[edit]

Some chants are based on spirituals. "We shall not be moved" and "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" are both used by fans. An example of the latter's use was "He's got a pineapple on his head" aimed at Jason Lee due to his distinctive hairstyle.[79] The song was later popularised by the television show Fantasy Football League.


Christmas carols have also been used as chants like with the theme of "O Tannenbaum" by the likes of Manchester United or Chelsea fans.


The tune to the Shaker song "Simple Gifts" has spawned many terrace chants including "Carefree", a chant associated with Chelsea.[80] It was also used for a Tottenham song abusing Sol Campbell after his move to Arsenal in 2001[81] and was sung by Manchester United fans, in honour of Park Ji-Sung. Chelsea fans also adapted the song "One Man Went To Mow" as an anthem.[82]


"Sloop John B" has been popular amongst English football fans since the mid-2000s. It was adopted by the supporters of English non-league team F.C. United of Manchester as a club anthem in 2007.[83]


The Geordie folk song "Blaydon Races" is associated with Newcastle United.[84] Other folk songs to have their lyrics altered include "The John B. Sails" to "We Won it 5 Times" by Liverpool fans, "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain" to "We'll Be Coming Down the Road" by the Scotland national team and Liverpool fans, "My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean", "The Wild Rover" and "Camptown Races", which is used for "Two World Wars, One World Cup", whilst Birmingham City fans sing "Keep Right on to the End of the Road".


The melody of "Bella ciao" is often used as a chant by Italian ultras groups of Salernitana, Cosenza Calcio, A.S. Livorno and also outside of Italy like with Aris Thessaloniki, AEK Athens F.C. or Paris Saint-Germain F.C. fans, as well as the Timbers Army of MLS' Portland Timbers. The song was also adapted by Brazilian fans during World Cup 2018 to tease and taunt Argentina about their possible exit in the first round, which eventually did not occur, with references to Argentinian players Di María, Mascherano, and Messi (Brazil and Argentina have a well-known football rivalry).[85]


Italian tifosi are strongly used to sing mocks based on national, and internationally famous folk tunes, like "L'uva fogarina", "Oh! Susanna" and "Alouette".


"The Fields of Athenry" is a widely used anthem by Irish sports fans, sang particularly at rugby and football matches.[86] The song was adopted and reworked by Liverpool fans as "The Fields of Anfield Road".[87]

Chants based on popular music[edit]

Popular music is the most common source of football chants. In the United Kingdom, music hall songs such as "My Old Man (Said Follow the Van)", "Knees Up Mother Brown", "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles", "I Came, I Saw, I Conga'd" and "Two Little Boys" have long been used as the basis of terrace chants. Popular standards such as "Winter Wonderland", Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer", and the 1958 Eurovision entry "Volare" are also widely adapted to suit players and managers.[84] The Cuban song "Guantanamera" became popularly used as a chant in the UK as a version by The Sandpipers charted soon after the 1966 World Cup; it is commonly sung in a large variety of chants, for example in the form of "There's only one [player's name]", or "You only sing when you're winning".[88][89] The tune "Tom Hark" is often played at many stadiums following a goal by the home team and for chants such as "Thursday Nights, Channel 5", whilst "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" by Doris Day is generally reserved for matches where the venue of the final is Wembley Stadium.


The rhythm, rather than the melody, of "Let's Go (Pony)" by The Routers is widely used for clapping, drumming or banging by fans worldwide.


Music of the 1960s influenced terrace chants. "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash and "That's Amore" by Dean Martin have been used by several sets of fans.[90][91] "Lola" by The Kinks, and "Hi Ho Silver Lining" by Jeff Beck have been adapted by several clubs – most prolific of these include Aston Villa, Sheffield Wednesday and Wolverhampton Wanderers.[92] "All You Need Is Love", "Hey Jude" and "Yellow Submarine" by The Beatles are often used.[92][93] Songs from musicals have become very popular as football chants, such as "Chim Chim Cher-ee" from the 1964 musical Mary Poppins.[94] Some early songs became popular as football chants later, for example the Venezuelan song "Moliendo Café" popular in early 1960s first became used as a chant in Argentina in the late 1970s, which spread to Italy as "Dale Cavese" chants in 2006 and then later to clubs around the world.[95]


The emergence of funk and disco in the 1970s also made its mark on the terraces with songs such as "Go West" by the Village People[96] and "Oops Up Side Your Head" by The Gap Band remaining popular amongst fans. "Ain't Nobody" by Rufus and Chaka Khan has been used by Arsenal fans and others. Music popular in the 1980s and 1990s is also used widely. Chants have been based on "Just Can't Get Enough" by Depeche Mode,[97] "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division,[98] "Pop Goes the World" by Men Without Hats, the Band Aid song "Do They Know It's Christmas?", "Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag" by Pigbag and "This Is How It Feels" by Inspiral Carpets.[84] Other chants have used tunes from on pop songs include "Three Lions", the official England anthem for Euro '96 and Manic Street Preachers song "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next".[99]


Fans of a number of different clubs in the United Kingdom have adopted "Rockin' All Over the World" by Status Quo as a chant. Liverpool fans sing "Scousers all over the world". Arsenal fans sing "Saka and Emile Smith Rowe". Rangers fans sing "Gerrard stopped ten in a row", in reference to the club winning the 2020-21 Scottish Premiership under manager Steven Gerrard and breaking bitter rivals Celtic's nine-year monopoly on the title.


Fans in England sing "Leeds are falling apart again" to the tune of "Love will tear us apart" by Joy Division to mock fans of Leeds United.


More recent releases to have their music appropriated include "Seven Nation Army" by The White Stripes, which became highly popular across nations.[100] A number of songs became popular in the 2010s, an example being "Freed from Desire", which is used to celebrate particular players – it was first popularised as "Will Grigg's on Fire", then used for others such as "Vardy's on Fire" and "Grizi's on Fire".[101][102][103] An Italian disco song "L'estate sta finendo" became popular among European clubs such as Napoli, Juventus, Porto, Atlético Madrid and others as "Un giorno all'improvviso", later picked up Liverpool fans, who created their own version as "Allez Allez Allez" for their 2017–18 UEFA Champions League campaign,[104] and it then spread to other British clubs in the 2018–2019 season.[105][106] In late 2017, "September" by Earth, Wind & Fire had a big impact in English stadia.[107] In 2022, fans of Tottenham Hotspur crafted a chant for Dejan Kulusevski to the tune of ABBA's "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)".[108]

Chants based on advertising jingles, nursery rhymes and theme tunes[edit]

Football crowds also adapt tunes such as advertising jingles, nursery rhymes and theme tunes. "The Farmer in the Dell" known in some regions as 'The Farmer Wants A Wife', provides the famous chant of "Ee Aye Addio", a tune which also provides the first bars of the 1946 be-bop jazz classic "Now's The Time", by alto saxophonist Charlie Parker. The marching tune "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" is also used a basis for songs, such as "His Armband Said He Was a Red", sung by Liverpool fans in honour of Fernando Torres while he was still at the club.[109] Chelsea fans then adapted the chant to match their own colours when Torres was transferred to the London club in 2011, with "He's now a Blue, he was a Red." Manchester United used the song to describe Torres and his looks too after he missed an open goal. United also used the song about John O'Shea after he scored a goal against Derby in the Carling Cup in 2009. The children's song "Ten Green Bottles" became "Ten German Bombers", to the tune of "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain," both songs used by English fans to their main rivals, Germany. The nursery rhyme "This Old Man" is sung by both supporters of Manchester United and Manchester City. The "Theme from Z-Cars" has been used in Everton's Goodison Park ground since 1962.[110]


Theme tunes which have been used as chants include Heartbeat and The Banana Splits.[111]

Club-specific songs[edit]

Some football teams also have songs which are traditionally sung by their fans. The song "You'll Never Walk Alone" from Carousel is associated heavily with Liverpool. In 1963, the song was covered by Liverpool group Gerry and the Pacemakers, which prompted the song's adoption by the Kop. 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".[112] Other songs sung by Liverpool fans include "Poor Scouser Tommy" based on "Red River Valley".[113]


Fans of West Ham United were said to have adopted the song "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" at Upton Park in the mid-1920s,[114] although no record of West Ham fans singing the song existed until 1940.[115]


"Marching on Together" is played and sung at Elland Road by supporters of Leeds United, and is one of the few club songs specifically written for the football club in question, being an original composition by Les Reed and Barry Mason. It was first released as the B-Side to Leeds United to coincide with the 1972 FA Cup Final.[116]


Manchester City has been strongly associated with the classic popular song "Blue Moon" since the late 1980s.[117] The song is now an established and official part of the club's brand and culture: 'Blue Moon' is also the name of the club's leading fansite, images of a blue moon (a moon that's blue in colour, not the astronomical phenomenon) appear on licensed and fan-made clothing and merchandise, and the team's mascots are a pair of blue aliens from the Moon named 'Moonchester' and 'Moonbeam'.


"Blue Is the Colour" is the song for Chelsea. The song was released in 1972 when the club reached the 1972 League Cup Final.[118] Chelsea fans also sing the "celery" song, waving and hurling sticks of celery while singing, starting in the early 1980s.[119]


"Go West" by the Village People has been co-opted by fans of Arsenal F.C., using the words "1-0 to the Arsenal" as a reference to the club's defensive style of football under former manager George Graham. The same "1-0 to the Arsenal" was also often sung, in ironic spirit, by fans of opposition by way of mocking their perceived boring style of play during this time.. The tune is also used by supporters of Leyton Orient with the words "Stand Up for The Orient"


"Goodnight, Irene" is sung by fans of Bristol Rovers,[120] while "Drink Up Thy Zider" by The Wurzels is sung by Bristol City fans.[121]


"Sailing" (originally by the Sutherland Brothers, but most commonly associated with Rod Stewart) is adapted by a number of clubs. Chesterfield fans, sings the song usually whenever the Spireites look to be 'sailing' to victory. A much faster-tempo version of the melody is used by Millwall F.C. fans for their famous chant "No one likes us, we don't care".[122] Tottenham fans sang the song as "We are Tottenham, from the Lane",[123] and variations of the same chant are sung by fans of other clubs.


Birmingham City adopted "Keep Right on to the End of the Road" by Sir Harry Lauder after the team sang it on the coach before the 1956 FA Cup Final Versus Manchester City, it was heard by the fans outside Wembley Stadium . The song was a favourite of Alex Govan who introduced to his teammates, and their manager Arthur Turner used the song as a pre-match ritual in their FA Cup run. It has been the Blues Anthem ever since.[124]


Supporters of Hibernian are known for singing "Sunshine on Leith" due to the song's composers and performers The Proclaimers being well known Hibernian supporters and the song's reference to Hibernian's home in Leith and as such the song has become an unofficial club anthem. The club has in the past also played other songs by the pair at its home ground Easter Road, such as "I'm on My Way", though none have the same association with the team that "Sunshine on Leith" does.


Fans of Tottenham Hotspur sing Barry Manilow's "Can't Smile Without You".[125]


Brighton & Hove Albion play "Good Old Sussex by the Sea" before each home game at Falmer Stadium, a tradition continued from their time at the "Goldstone Ground."[126]


Stoke City fans have sung "Delilah" by Tom Jones since the 1980s.[127]


Supporters of Sheffield Wednesday regularly sing the words "Honolulu Wednesday" to the tune of "Honolulu Baby"; a song which featured in the 1933 film Sons of the Desert starring Laurel and Hardy. Across the city, Sheffield United F.C. fans celebrate the start of home games with a chorus of The Greasy Chip Butty Song.


Before every match, Nottingham Forest fans sing "Mull of Kintyre", replacing "Mull of Kintyre" with "City Ground", and "Mist rolling in from the sea" with "Mist rolling in from the Trent". "Mull of Kintyre" has also been adopted by Charlton Athletic, with Valley, Floyd Road and the Thames similarly being referenced.


"Men of Harlech" is sung in a few Welsh clubs such as Cardiff City and Wrexham but with different lyrics. Wrexham fans sing it as "Wrexham is the name".[128]


"Can't Help Falling in Love" has been adopted originally by Sunderland as well as several other teams including Huddersfield Town, Hull City, Preston North End, Rotherham United, Swindon Town, Swansea, AFC Wimbledon, and Columbus Crew.[129]


The Dave Clarke Five's "Glad All Over" has been sung since the 1960s by Crystal Palace and is also used by several clubs after a home goal is scored, including Swindon Town.


Gateshead supporters sing "Trail of the Lonesome Pine" from the film Way Out West.[130]


Sydney FC supporter group "The Cove" sing "Rhythm of My Heart" by Rod Stewart in the 23rd minute of every game as tribute to supporters who have died.


Feyenoord fans sing an adaption of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" after the team scores at De Kuip.


Dundee United fans have been known to sing Daniel Boone's single "Beautiful Sunday".


Coventry City former chairman and manager Jimmy Hill, adopted the "Eton Boating song" as the club's official anthem to create Play up Sky blues in the early 1960s. The song has been sung on the terraces ever since and remains one of the most recognisable in English football.

Chant Laureate[edit]

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."[147]

Entrance music

Music at sporting events

List of UK hit singles by footballers

Sea shanty

Tomahawk Chop

"Dirty Northern Bastards!" And Other Tales from the Terraces: The Story of Britain's Football Chants by Tim Marshall

Irwin, Colin (2006). Sing When You're Winning. Andre Deutsch.  978-0233001845.

ISBN

Barclaycard Chant Laureate: A selection of the finalists

FanChants

footballchants.org

Terrace Chants

50 Best Football Chants (FourFourTwo)

USA Football Chants and Songs

World football's 25 best chants (Bleacher Report)

The 23 songs that most modern football chants are based on

The Joy of Six: Football Chants