The Sounds of Footy
With the World Cup behind us and the European leagues ramping up, fans have been returning to watch their club teams and sing from the terraces. Songs and chants have been an iconic part of club football since its inception in the late 19th century. Early songs were adapted from war cries from the British Army or from music hall songs written in the 1880s. Tunes like “Rowdy Dowdy Boys” and “Fitba’ Crazy” honoured teams such as Sheffield United, one of the oldest existing football clubs in the world. However, the oldest song is “On the Ball, City” sung by Norwich City supporters since the 1890s. Today, songs are written by fans to celebrate their team’ achievements, players, managers or just to rile up opposition supporters.
The first chant I want to shine a light on is one sung by many different sets of supporters in the UK with slightly modified to suit the different clubs. Originally a gospel song coming from Black churches in the US, “When the Saints Go Marching In” has been taken up by many sets of fans in the UK. The song is most notably sung by fans of Southampton FC (nicknamed the Saints) but has also been used by other sets of supporters whose clubs go by the same name such as the Scottish team St. Mirren FC and the Irish club St. Patrick’s Athletic.
As a supporter I’ve come to learn a lot of the chants by going down to the supporters’ pub to watch matches on early weekend mornings or after school when cup matches were on.
Some of my favourites have been:
The song sung about Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic after his free transfer to United
Antony Martial’s song after he scored an impressive goal on his United debut versus rivals Liverpool
The Manchester United Calypso written by Trinidadian singer Edric Connor who wrote the song about the legendary Busby Babes team of the 1960s under legendary manager Sir Matt Busby
But my favourite of the lot is to the tune of the country song “You Are My Sunshine” originally written by Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell and covered by over 350 artists since its publishing. The song honours Norwegian striker and one time manager, Ole Gunnar Solksjaer who was known as Man United’s “super sub” for his goalscoring record off the bench under Sir Alex Ferguson -
Now looking up the country to Northern rivals comes one of the most iconic chants in football history, “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” Originally from the 1945 musical Carousel, but later was covered in 1963 by Liverpool band, Gerry and the Pacemakers, the song rose to the top of the UK Singles Charts and stayed there for four consecutive weeks, where it was picked up by Liverpool fans who would sing it before matches. It became tradition to sing it before home matches and the club even adopted it into their identity and adopted the title of the song as their club motto emblazoned on the crest.
Although football chants originated in the UK, many sets of fans around the world have taken it upon themselves to write their own songs and cheers using music in their own languages and from their own cultures. For example, Bavarian giants Bayern Munich’s club motto and song “Mia san Mia” which originated in Austrian military slogans and translate to “We are Who we Are”, while FC Barcelona’s “El Himne Del Barça” was written to celebrate the club's 75thanniversary and is sung and chanted among the Culé during matches.
Across the pond where some of football’s most fervent fans are found, have brought about their own chants to add to the already incredible atmospheres they create at matches. For example, La Doce, the ultras section of the Argentinian Boca Juniors fanbase, sing songs such as “La Marcha de Boca Juniors'' commissioned by the only fan to attend their 1925 European tour or “Dale Dale Boca”.
All in all, football chants and songs have become an integral part of football fandom over the years and has helped foster not just atmosphere in the stadiums but camaraderie among the fans of teams the world over. Even in my home of Toronto, Toronto FC supporters have adopted the Iceland nation team’s ‘Thunder Clap’ which rings out at every home game and gets all supporters, even those outside of the supporters’ section in the south end involved.
