A football chant or terrace chant, is a song or chant sung at association football matches. They can be historic, dating back to the formation of the club, adaptations 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. 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.
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The official Valletta Football Club anthem, 'Forza Valletta City' is said to have been the first such anthem in Europe. Composed and written by two of Valletta's staunchest supporters Carm Xerri & William Arena.
On 6 July 1974, under the Anthony D'Amato record label 'Forza Valletta City' was released in our record shops as a 7-inch, 45 rpm vinyl record sung by the City Minstrels, comprising: Orchestra Xercarm and his friends; Trumpets - Paul Bonnici, Joseph Azzopardi and Carmel Busuttil; Saxophones - Vinny Vella, Turu Pace, Oscar Lucas, Freddie Mizzi and Saviour Magro; Rhythm - Spiro Zammit (piano), Dominic Vella (bass) and Sunny Vella (drums); Trombones - Clement Sciberras and Tony Zammit.
Music by Carm Xerri, Lyrics by William Arena
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 a version of 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 reference to the stadium in which they play, Westpac Stadium, which is nicknamed 'The Ring of Fire'. As the club is a New Zealand side competing against Australian teams, fans of the Phoenix often chant 'Same old Aussies, always cheating!' when an opposing player commits a foul. Also popular with the Phoenix fans is the chant "You're going home in a Qantas Aeroplane" since this is the preferred airline of all the Australian based teams in the A-League. Perth Glory fans sing to the chant of Chelsea Dagger by The Fratellis, when the Glory score a goal. Melbourne Heart fans sing an altered version of Snoop Doggs "Drop it like it's hot".
Also in Australia when a referee makes a call the fans of the penalised team will generally start the slowly chant "Bullshit! Bullshit!" at the referee decision.
A common Italian chant is the hymm to "Seven Nation Army" by The White Stripes first used by FC Bruges fans from Belgium and later used by Italian AS Roma fans. Oh Oh-oh-oh-oh Oh... 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.
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.
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 or "You're not singing anymore!".
There have been various adaptations of "When The Saints Go Marching In". Sung originally and mostly by Southampton FC fans due to their nickname being the 'Saints'. They are one of the few teams that don't change the lyrics.
The tune to the Shaker song "Simple Gifts" has spawned many terrace chants including "Carefree", a chant associated with Chelsea and "Drink, Drink" sung by fans of Newcastle United F.C.. It was also used the tune for a Tottenham song racially abusing Sol Campbell after his move to Arsenal in 2001[2] and for a popular chant sung by Manchester United fans in honour of Park Ji-Sung, which was described by journalist Barry Glendenning as "the greatest football chant of all time as it manages to be simultaneously endearing and offensive on a number of levels".[3]
The spiritual "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" is also popular, such as "He's got a pineapple on his head" aimed at Jason Lee due to his distinctive hairstyle.
Various teams have used the chant "Glory Glory" (followed by "Tottenham Hotspur", "Leeds United", "Man United", etc), to the tune of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic". Hibernian were the first team to popularise the song with the release of a record by Hector Nicol in the 1950s ("Glory Glory to the Hibees").
"We shall not be moved" was originally sang by Everton FC, but now it is sang by most English clubs.
"My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean" has been re-worked by several 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 (close rival of the club's fans) and shit on the bastards below..." whilst 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.
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.[4]
Several football chants are based on pop songs. One chant, originating when Bobby Zamora was at Brighton adapted the song "That's Amore" by Dean Martin.[5]
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".
"Knees Up Mother Brown" is the basis of "Who Ate All The Pies?". "Guantanamera" is also used to honour players or to slur the opposition. Other examples include the tune of "The Wild Rover" being used for the song "The Greatest Team the World Has Ever Seen" and "My Old Man" as an adaptation of "My Old Man (Said Follow the Van)".
Some songs are generally reserved for cup matches (i.e. FA Cup, Football League Cup, Football League Trophy, FAI Cup 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), or in the case of Newcastle fans "Tell me ma me ma, I won't be home for tea". Liverpool and Everton fans also sing "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". Arsenal and Oxford fans, Walsall and Shamrock Rovers fans sing 'She Wore a Yellow/Green Ribbon' during Cup matches, from the United States Military marching song, while Tottenham Hotspur fans sing the "Spurs are on our way to Wembley" chorus of 'Ossie's Dream' by Chas and Dave.
The chant "We are the Champions, Champions of Europe" (WACCOE) is often chanted by fans of Leeds United with regards to the events of their loss to Bayern Munich in the 1975 European Cup Final. An altered version "Champions of England, Champions of Europe" was sung by Manchester United fans in 2008/9 following their 2007/08 Premier League and Champions league wins.
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.
Some songs were created especially for a club or a specific event. examples include "Marching on Together (Leeds!Leeds!Leeds!)" for Leeds United, "Singing the Blues" (Bristol Rovers), (Ipswich Town) and "Let's All Sing Together" for Coventry City, penned by former Coventry manager Jimmy Hill.
Some football teams also have songs which are traditionally sung by their fans, such as Hibernian's "Glory Glory to the Hi-Bees", Leeds United's "Marching On Together", Liverpool's "You'll Never Walk Alone",[6] Newcastle United's "Blaydon Races", West Ham United's "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles", Birmingham City's "Keep Right On", Brighton & Hove Albion's "Good Old Sussex by the Sea", Norwich City's "On The Ball, City" and Hartlepool United's "Two Little Boys".
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.""[7]