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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.

Common chants in the UK

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, Italy, and also in Latin America. In France and Portugal, it's pronounced like 'allez, allez'. 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 chant has been heard during Pink Floyd concerts and was heard in the film The Replacements as one character was a football star turned place kicker on an American football team.

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.

Another common clapping style is: "clap, clap, clap-clap-clap, clap-clap-clap-clap", followed by a two-syllable football team's name or nickname. In the late 1990s this style was aped by the Australian telecommunications firm, AAPT Smartchat, for an advertising campaign using the refrain, "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 Carlos Tevez! There's only one Carlos Tevez" (or whoever), to a tune approximating "Guantanamera". 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 Rangers goalkeeper Andy Goram was diagnosed as schizophrenic, fans came up with the chant, "Two Andy Gorams! There's only two Andy Gorams" (various sets of supporters have since claimed credit for this, including fans of Rangers themselves and Kilmarnock). 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!".

Another chant sung to the same tune is "Sing when you're winning, you only sing when you're winning", "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". An alternative chant to the tune of Go West (Pet Shop Boys) is "More noise in a library, more noise in a library". This is most often used by the away fans to a rather quiet set of home fans. The tune "Blue Moon" is used for the chant "Ten men, we've only got ten men" (when a team scores or plays surprisingly well despite having a man sent off) or, conversely, "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!". When Frenchman Cantona was sold to Manchester United, opposing fans sang "Ou est 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". It was also commonly used in the 1980s - a time when football violence was much more common than now - to threaten opposing supporters: 'You'll get a boot wrapped 'round your head, you'll get a boot wrapped 'round your head'.

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 Village People (more recently covered 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. Jeff Beck's "Hi-Ho Silver Lining" has gained popularity as a chant amongst Rushden & Diamonds and Wolverhampton Wanderers fans, to the lyrics "and its Hi Ho Rushden Diamonds (or Wolverhampton)", sang the same as the pop song except replacing the lyrics "Because its obvious" with "F*** the Cobblers (or other local rivals)".

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. And once again, Victoria Beckham has borne the brunt of a the chanters' inventive nature: when Manchester United play at Arsenal, the Arsenal fans often sing, "Does she take it, does she take it, does she take it up the Arsenal? Does she take it up the Arsenal?"

One chant that is sung by an improbable proportion of clubs is sung to the tune of the chorus of The Wild Rover. For example, "And it's Queen's Park Rangers, clap-clap-clap-clap, Queen's Park Rangers FC, are by far the greatest team, the world has ever seen."

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. Many other chants are adapted from popular pop music, although these tend to be shortlived as the songs they are based on, "Go West" and "Winter Wonderland" being notable exceptions.

Another chant sung by the team who employs the number one keeper in the country may be heard to sing the song "England's number one, England England number one" such as is sung by Tottenham at the moment. Tottenham also recently sung "Englands number nine" (to the same tune) when Paul Robinson (the goalkeeper) scored a goal against Watford.

Manchester City fans regularly sing 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 look out for Turks carrying knives, kebab, kebab, kebab.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) However in an ironic twist, after a famous shock victory over England, the song "Are you England in disguise" has been used by fans of the minnows of Northern Ireland in following up with shock victories over Spain and Sweden.
  • "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" or "Is that all you take away?" 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". Or more usually "Same old <this team>; always cheating".
  • "<Insert name here>'s a wanker" (notably an Australian chant, used to degrade anyone on the field). This first gained popular currency in the mid-to-late 1980s among Australian cricket fans, who made New Zealand all-rounder Richard Hadlee the subject of the chant, as in "Hadlee is a wanker! (clap-clap, clap-clap-clap)". "The referee's a wanker" is very popular in Scotland.
  • 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
  • "<Insert name here>, what a knob!". (to the tune of Tom Hark, most commonly used when someone is disliked by the fans)
  • There are a few different songs sung about the suporters of teams from Glasgow such as, "...In your Glasgow slums!'
  • There is also one similar sung to Hearts FC supporters which goes, "...In your Gorgie slums' - Gorgie being the area of Edinburgh which Hearts are from.
  • "You dirty northern 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 committed a foul. It is also sung by supporters of Plymouth Argyle to everyone they play as they are the most southern league team in Britain, but with particular relish when they are playing Torquay United, who are based four miles further north and would usually be singing the song themselves. A similar principle is that Hartlepool United, the second-most northerly team in England, sing it to Carlisle United, the only team in the League that is further north than them.
  • Some football teams also have songs which are traditionally sung by their supporters. Probably the most famous of these are Liverpool F.C.'s "You'll Never Walk Alone", Everton's "If Yer Know yer History" and West Ham'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.
  • " We're not x we're x" The first x being a major football club or nation and the latter being a small club or nation has become popular in recent years to the tune of Battle hymn of the Republic It is most often heard by Northern Ireland fans as "We're not Brazil we're Northern Ireland, but it's all the same to me" the high number of syllables required have limited its use to a handful of club sides with songs such as "We're not Man U we're Accy Stanley or Sheffield Wednesday
  • "You couldn't score in a whore house" is used to mock opposing strikers, and is most frequently used by Scousers (though not exclusively).
  • During the 2005/6 Premiership season, Portsmouth fans sang "We've got the whole world in our team" to the tune of "He's got the whole world in his hands" as a reference to their extremely cosmopolitan squad. This was also allegedly sung by a small group of Australian cricket "fans" during the 2006/7 Ashes to the England team, due to the inclusion of Monty Panesar and Sajid Mahmood, both of whom are of subcontinental extraction, in addition to Geraint Jones (born in Papua New Guinea, raised in Australia), and Kevin Pietersen (born and raised in South Africa), changing the song to "You've got the whole world in your team".
  • "Can you hear [team name here] sing? No. no, x2, Can't hear a f***ing thing. Usually sang at the other teams fans when they aren't singing for their team.
  • "Gypo, Gypo, Gypo!" Usually sung by opposition supporters when there is a player with long hair on the opposite team.
  • "Where's your caravan, Where's your caravan?!" Also sung to a player with long hair on the opposing team.

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, or if they believe the board to be not acting in the club's best interests - for example, when Robert Maxwell was the Derby County manager, the Derby fans sang, "he's fat, he's round, he's never at the ground, Captain Bob, Captain Bob". 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.

Often songs will be ironically used by the teams they are insulting. For example, Manchester United supporters often sing "Who the fuck are Man United?" when the team is winning. Another example would be chants of "What a waste of money" when £25m signing Wayne Rooney scored a hat-trick on his Manchester United debut.

Very often chants are abuse directed at an opposition player (e.g. Robbie Savage), 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.

Another football chant sang by the (mostly) anti-English Cardiff City fans is "Que sera, sera, whatever will be will be. You fucked up in Germany. Que sera, sera" (with reference to England's poor World Cup 2006 display). The ending of the song is usually Portugal! Portugal! Portugal! (they knocked England out of the World Cup). Another song is "Same old English - Always cheating!" when an English player fouls or dives or an English official does a "bad" decision. Cardiff fans are also anti-Swansea City - calling them Jacks and anyone who was born or has played for them is the subject of a "You Jack bastard" taunt. Another anti-Swansea chant is "in the Swansea slums. They look in the dustbin for something to eat. They find a dead rat and they think it's a treat. In the Swansea slums! (repeated). The same chant is sung by most clubs fans aimed at opposing fans and their town.

"No-one Likes Us, We Don't Care" (to the tune of Sailing) was made famous MillwallFC] due to the banning of their fans at away matches due to the stereotypical view of hooligan Millwall fans. it was made famous when the club reached the 2004 FA Cup Final against Manchester United and since seen many club steal the song and take it as their own.

The oldest football song is thought to be "The Dooly Fitba' Club", published in Dundee in 1880. It formed the basis of the song "Football Crazy" which was a hit for Robin Hall and Jimmie McGregor in 1960. One of the original verses is

"He's fitba' crazy fegs, He's clean stane mad, His fitba' capers robbed him o' Whit we bit sense he had ; It wid tak a dizen servents His clase tae patch and scrub, Since Jock's become a member o' the Dooly fitba' club."

Another popular chant is "You're not singing, you're not singing, you're not singing anymore!". Usually sung when either the home or away team has equalized or gone ahead when they have been behind

Two less common chants are "ECW ECW ECW!" / "JERRY JERRY JERRRY" when there is a fight or some controversy

"Ahh! Why don't you just put on a (insert colour here) shirt on?! Said when a player gives the ball away to the other team.

In a crucial Premiership match in March 2007 when West Ham lost 4-3 to Tottenham, West Ham fans referred to Tottenham's alleged food poisoning before the corresponding fixture the previous season: "Lasagne, Whoaoa, Lasagne, Whoaoa. We laughed ouselves to bits, when Tottenham got the s***s!" Although this chant had been sung by Arsenal fans earlier in the season whom the result of food posioning game helped them qualify for the Champions League. Spurs fans subsequently replied highlighting West Ham's current plight: "You put ya Argentines in, Ya Argentines out, The Iceman comes and kicks the gaffer out, Ya selling Reo-Coker & ya going down, That's why we love to shout....... Ohhhhhhhhhhhh ***ky, ***ky West Ham, Ohhhhhhhhhhhh ***ky, ***ky West Ham, Ohhhhhhhhhhhh ***ky, ***ky West Ham, Misfits, has-beens, ha ha ha!!"

Recently in the AFL (Australian Football League) a group of Richmond Fans known as the Tiger army have chanted towards West Coast Eagles fans "Ya Clubs a joke, your all on ****ing coke, Eagles, Eagles". in reference to the drug problems the club is currently facing. Also the same group using a similar chant taunted North Melbourne fans with "Shut up ya joke, your club is goin' broke, Kangaroos, Kangaroos". This is directed towards their current financial plight.

Songs associated with football teams

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

*Hibernian F.C. - "Sunshine on Leith" (by The Proclaimers), "Glory Glory To The Hibees" 500 Miles (by The Proclaimers),

See also

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 stadia 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."

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