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Football chant

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Football chants are repetitive chants generated by the crowd at football (soccer) matches, particularly professional ones. Throughout Europe and Latin America it is considered normal for the supporters to spend much of their time shouting at the players, opposing spectators, the referee, or just the world in general. They are intended to encourage the supporters' team, insult the opposition, or just to make noise.

The chants themselves can vary enormously, from the simple and repetitive to the topical and complex, encompassing tradition and vulgarity. An example of simple, though proud chanting is the Brazilian chant, sung by the fans at World Cup matches: "Eu sou brasileiro, com muito orgulho, com muito amor" (I am Brazilian, with a lot of pride, with a lot of love). They frequently contain vulgar or antagonistic lyrics; many of them would not be acceptable in a number of situations outside of a football stadium, and as long as the chants are not used outside of football, they are tolerated. Football chants generally contribute to fans' enjoyment of a game and its atmosphere, and are an integral part of football culture. This is particularly the case in English, Scottish, German and Dutch football in which national anthems are also sung at the beginning of international games.

They are also known as terrace chants - a terrace being the old standing areas in football grounds used until the 1990s in top-level football. Terraces are still used in lower league football where crowds and stands are smaller.

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[edit] Common chants

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One of the world-known football chants is "Olé, Olé". The word is an expression in the tauromachy after the bullfighter engaging the bull with a capote like an expression of approval by the public who attend this spectacle. The chant is popular in Europe, especially in Spain, France and Italy, and also in Latin America. This chant has also been adapted by Australian fans who change Olé to Aussie, e.g. "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie etc.". This word is used as a cheer by the fans when the local team is winning and making precision ball passes between the team members.

The simplest chant consists of the name of the team shouted over and over again, often with clapping in the gap; e.g. "United" (clap clap clap); "United" (clap clap clap). Chants being nothing if not competitive, opposing supporters may respond by shouting an insulting word in the gap.

A variation upon this clapping is: "clap clap, clap clap clap, clap clap clap clap, clap clap". The most famous instances of this rhythm were firstly, during the late 1990s when AAPT Smartchat released a successful Australian advertising campaign - "A, A, A A P, A A P T, Smart chat!". The rhythm can also be heard at the beginning of the Hoodoo Gurus song "Wipeout (Like Wow)".

The next simplest chant, used when your team is ahead, is just the score repeated, e.g. "two nil; two nil", particularly if one of the teams has scored recently, sung to a tune approximating "Amazing Grace".

Chants can also support particular players. A common one is "One Wayne Rooney! There's only one Wayne Rooney" (or whoever). When an England international squad included two players both called Gary Stevens the chant became "Two Gary Stevens! There's only two Gary Stevens"; conversely, during the late 1990s Arsenal played host to the chant "Two Ian Wrights! There's only two Ian Wrights", in reference to their new signing Luís Boa Morte who bore a striking resemblance to Wright (the Chicago Fire fans have a similar version for striker Chad Barrett, who resembles Wayne Rooney). When Andy Goram was diagnosed as schizophrenic, opposing fans chanted "Two Andy Gorams! There's only two Andy Gorams". In Australian rules football, the song "One Tony Lockett" was created, referring to the legendary status of the AFL's leading goalkicker of all time - "There's only one Tony Lockett!".

All of the above are sung to the tune "Guantanamera", as are "Sing when you're winning, you only sing when you're winning" (the variant "You don't even sing when you're winning" has been heard at Manchester United), "Hate Man United, we only hate Man United" (which can be heard at local rivals Bolton Wanderers), and (when an easy shot or a penalty is missed) "Score in a brothel, you couldn't score in a brothel". The tune "Blue Moon" is used for the chant "Twelve men, you've only got twelve men" (when the referee is perceived to be biased to one team - acting as their 12th man). Most chants can be adapted to the name of almost any player.

The Gap Band's "Oops Upside Your Head" was adapted by Celtic's more hardline supporters as "Ooh! Aah! Up the 'RA! Say ooh ah up the 'RA!", where 'RA is an affectionate term for the IRA. This was adapted by Republic of Ireland fans into "Ooh! Aah! Paul McGrath!" (the "th" in McGrath being silent) and then by Leeds United fans as "Ooh! Aah! Cantona!". Just as famously it has been adapted in Australian cricket, with fast bowler Glenn McGrath the subject of the "Ooh! Aah! Glenn McGrath" chant. A more recent adaptation emerged in Australia following Perth Glory's signing of former Socceroo Stan Lazaridis - "We've got Stan the Man! Yeah we've got Stan the Man".

The Duran Duran song Rio was adapted in several ways for Rio Ferdinand; in fact in 2002, fan Simon Le Bon (Duran Duran's lead singer) promised to re-record one of the football chants if the team won.

Furthermore, the Domenico Modugno song Volare has been adapted for players including Patrick Vieira, Tiago and John Terry

The song "Go West" by the Pet Shop Boys provides the melody for the common chant "You're shit, and you know you are" and many, many others, including more specialised chants such as "One nil, to the Arsenal" (which popularised the usage of "Go West" in English football), "Go West Bromwich Albion" and "Posh Spice takes it up the arse", made famous when Victoria Beckham mentioned it in her autobiography as an example of the less-than-warm welcome shown to her by fans of her new husband's team, Manchester United.

Another melody for chants is that of the hymn Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer which goes "Bread of heaven, bread of heaven, feed me now and ever more! Feed me now and ever more". The most famous incarnation of this is "You're not singing, you're not singing, you're not singing any more! You're not singing any more!" sung when the opposition's supporters have stopped chanting as a result of conceding a goal.

A large proportion of chants have the same tune as hymns, because hymns were traditionally sung before the start of all football matches in the late 19th and early 20th century. The hymn "Abide With Me" is still sung before the FA Cup Final every year. Very few chants are adapted from popular pop music, "Go West" and "Winter Wonderland" being notable exceptions.

A somewhat sinister riposte to Manchester United supporters' song, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life which they customarily used to sing when leading to taunt their opposition is to be found in a song sung to the same tune Always Look on the Runway for Ice, a reference to the tragic Munich air disaster of February 6 1958, in which 23 of the 43 people on board died, 8 of them Man United players. This has been countered in recent years, such as against Leeds United, when the song Always Watch Out For A Turk With A Knife which is a reference to the two Leeds supporters who were fatally stabbed whilst in Turkey for a UEFA Cup match.

In the Australian A-League competition, the Melbourne Victory fans are known for their "Kitzbichler" chant. It is directed towards the Austrian midfielder Richard Kitzbichler, and is sung to the tune of "Tequila", with the entire crowd singing the tune "do do do do do do, do do", then shouting "KITZBICHLER!".

Further examples include:

  • "Who's the bastard in the black?" (meaning the referee. There are some variations to this, such as Celtic's "Who's the Mason in the black?")
  • "Can we play you every week?" (a particular favourite among supporters in the Isles of Scilly League which has only two teams and who play each other 20 times or so during the course of a season)
  • "Are you X in disguise?" (where X is a weak or a rival team. For example England fans use Scotland as X)
  • "Ahh! You're shit!" Used whenever a member of the opposing team misses a shot or makes an error giving the ball to the supporter's team.
  • "Go on, my son!" Used to encourage a player to take advantage of the ball from his position.
  • "You're supposed to be at home" (when the away team supporters are being more vocal in their support than those of the home team) as well as the obverse of this coin, "You should have come in a taxi" sung when the away supporters are few in numbers.
  • "My garden shed" (used by away supporters to insult the size of the host ground - My garden shed/Is bigger than this/My garden shed/Is bigger than this/It's got a door and a window/My garden shed/Is bigger than this). Conversely, a poor side playing in an attractive stadium may be greeted by the simpler chant of "Nice ground, shit team", to the tune of the Pompey Chimes.
  • Another popular chant to the tune of the Pompey chimes goes thus: "Shame on <this team>; cheating bastards".
  • "<Insert name here>'s a wanker!" (notably an Australian chant, used to degrade anyone on the field).
  • To the tune of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus - <name - to Hallelujah>! You're a wanker! You're a wanker! This is used primarily in Australia against controversial players by opposing fans.
  • "<Insert name here> walks on water! Tra la la la la la la!" (used whenever a sportsman completes an amazing deed, for example, Stephen Milne's 11 goal haul in Round 22, 2005)
  • "Stand up, if you hate <insert name here>." This can refer to a person or a team, and would be accompanied, of course, with the singing fans standing (an act usually frowned upon in all-seater stadia due to safety reasons).
  • "Sit down, shut up", directed at loud opposition fans
  • You're not singing anymore" sung at opposition fans when, whilst chanting and acting as though their team had won, their team has conceded a goal
  • "<Insert name here>, what a knob!". (to the tune of Tom Hark, most commonly used when someone is disliked by the fans)
  • "You dirty northen bastard!" - sung by supporters of a team from the South of England and directed at an opposition player from a team from the North of England after he has commited a foul.

Some football teams also have songs which are traditionally sung by their supporters. Probably the most famous of these are Liverpool's (or Rodgers and Hammerstein's or Celtic's) "You'll Never Walk Alone" and West Ham's (or Jaan Kenbrovin and John Kellette's) "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles". Inevitably, these have become targets for parody by opposition fans; "You'll Never Walk Alone" has been adapted to "You'll Never Get A Job", a reference to the high unemployment in Liverpool during the early 1980s. During Euro 96 England's official song Three Lions became popular enough that it has been adopted by German and other fans, adapted for their teams.

  • Very occasionally a song will have a limited shelf life. The most notable example was perhaps sung by Manchester City fans during season 1969/70, and ran: "Pardoe, Pardoe, Is off to Mexico, With Bell and Lee and Summerbee, Pardoe, Pardoe, Pardoe, Pardoe....." to the tune of the HiHo song from Snow White. It referred to City fans confidence that full back Glyn Pardoe would be included in the England squad for the 1970 World Cup along with team-mates Colin Bell, Francis Lee and Mike Summerbee. (Their confidence was misplaced).

Some chants form part of protest by the fans against the management of the club, usually if the majority of fans believe the manager should be sacked. Some chants might be a protest to the chairman not to sell a star player.

Another chant is "Who ate all the pies?", to the tune of Knees Up Mother Brown, which is aimed at a supposedly overweight player or official. During the 1990s, opposition fans at Nottingham Forest games began singing "He's got a pineapple on his head" to the tune of "He's got the whole world in his hands" to Jason Lee because of his somewhat unorthodox hair cut. The chant became famous when featured on David Baddiel and Frank Skinner's Fantasy Football League.

Leeds United fans during the 1996-97 Season sang "We'll score again, don't know where don't know when, but I know we'll score again some sunny day" to the war time tune of "we'll meet again" by Vera Lynn in reference to the 28 goals scored over all 38 matches that season

Very often chants are abuse directed at an opposition player, particularly if an incident has happened that has irritated fans of the other team, for example if the player has appeared to have cheated to get a penalty kick. Abuse is also commonly directed at match officials, usually only the referee after a controversial decision has been made. Common variations include "You don't know what you're doing", "You're not fit to referee", "Shit refs, we only get shit refs","Poofter Referee" with "The referee's a wanker!" probably the most popular.

Songs occasionally can refer to events not directly related to the match. For example, after John Hopoate, playing in the Australian National Rugby League was suspended for "digitally penetrating" the rectums of opposition players, crowds in the British Super League were reported to have been singing "Do the Hopoate" to the tune of the Hokey Cokey.

The oldest football song in the world is believed to be Norwich City's "On the Ball City" dating back to just after the clubs creation in 1902.

[edit] Songs associated with football teams

Note: All Brazilian and Australian football teams have official anthems associated to them.

[edit] List of football teams whose chants are described within their article

[edit] 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 Premiership stadiums and compose chants for the 2004-5 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."

[edit] External links

fr:Chant de stade sv:Hejaramsa

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