Popular Music On Football Teams

Football fans describe themselves as the “twelfth man” — as essential to the success of the team as the players and coaching staff.

It is the actions performed by fans during the game — the ritual chants, songs, banner waving, etc.

How clubs encourage their supporters to get behind the team in a more structured and organized manner?

What method could they use to give the players a genuine boost before a ball is kicked?
The obvious answer to that question is by introducing an anthem, a specific song that the crowd sings or cheers to, in order to generate an atmosphere

In this book we take a trip into the life of a fan, as I list the top football popular songs of the 20th century.

The most famous anthem in all of football,

‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ is associated most clearly with Liverpool Football Club.

You’ll Never Walk Alone is a show tune from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel.

In the UK, the song’s most successful cover was released in 1963 by the Liverpudlian Merseybeat group Gerry and the Pacemakers, peaking at number one on the UK Singles Chart for four consecutive weeks. Sung by Liverpool fans in 1963, the song quickly became the football anthem of Liverpool F.C., which adopted “You’ll Never Walk Alone” as its official motto on its coat of arms. The song is sung by its supporters moments before the start of each home game at Anfield stadium with the Gerry and the Pacemakers version being played over the public address system.

Now it’s time for goose bumps.

Also, after winning important games.

Vs Barcelona on Champions League semifinal at 2019

Liverpool is not alone.

Scottish team Celtic F.C fans and German team Borussia Dortmund fans sing “Youll Never Walk Alone” before games as well.

“I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” is a popular American song which debuted in 1918 and was first published in 1919.

The song was written by John Kellette, Jaan Kenbrovi, James Kendis, James Brockman and Nat Vincenl.

In the late 1910s and early 1920s, the song was performed and recorded by most of the leading music groups of the time, but today it is famous for its West Ham connections that date back to the 1930s.

West Ham, a football club from London, were introduced to the anthem by manager of the time, Charlie Paynter, after he met a young player who looked like the boy in the well-known “Bubbles” painting by John Millais that was featured in a soap commercial at the time. And from that simple tale, I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles became the anthem of West Ham Utd.

West Ham United have a unique start to their match day experience, playing the song “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” whilst artificial bubbles are blown onto the pitch as the players run onto the turf.

“Blue Moon” was a composition written by the prolific songwriting duo of Rodgers and Hart in 1934. It has been a remarkably popular song to cover over the years, with hit versions from the likes of Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and Rod Stewart makes it into the charts at one point or another. Originally the song of choice for Crewe Alexandra, Manchester City fans took it on as their own theme at the start of the 1989-1990 season when it was common for pop songs to be adopted by football supporters on the terraces.

The first time City fans were heard singing it came at the end of the first match of the 1989-1990 campaign when the club’s supporters were kept in after the end of the game and did it to entertain themselves. Since then it was adopted officially by the club, with Manchester City’s public address system blasting out different versions of the song before kick-off throughout the season.

It’s not all for Manchester City.
Manchester City fans can be heard belting out Beatles classic ‘Hey Jude’ in celebration of their team’s achievements, with home matches at the Etihad Stadium characterized by the tune being blasted out on the public address system before kick off.

It is curious, however, as to why a song from a band that hails from Liverpool has been adopted by the Sky Blues due to the intense rivalry between the two cities.

Manchester, of course, has a rich musical history, with Liam and Noel Gallagher of Oasis both ardent supporters of the club. As such, ‘Wonderwall’ has been adopted as an anthem of the team, notably being sung by the players in the dressing room in celebration of their 2018-19 Premier League title success, a clip that went viral around the globe.

The choice of Hey Jude, however, dates back to 1968, which was the year that City won their second English league title. It would be the last time they were kings of England before the Abu Dhabi United Group took charge in 2008 and led them to success four years later.

It is a triumph, then, that is treated with a great deal of nostalgia and fondness by the club’s support – particularly the old guard, who were starved of success for so long and followed the team to the pits of English football’s third tier before their spectacular Renaissance.

Coincidentally, 1968 was the year that the Beatles released ‘Hey Jude’, which was to become arguably the greatest crowd-pleasing tune in their broad repertoire. Although the song only became No.1 in the UK three months after City won the title, it became associated with the golden age of the club and has since become a fixture on the terraces.

Of course, it helps that the Paul McCarthy-written track is incredibly chantable, with the chorus of ‘Nahh, na, na, nahh-na-na, nahhh’ welcoming almost any two-syllable word, which the Manchester hoards have hijacked to install ‘City’.

As the song reaches its crescendo from a low-key beginning, it oozes euphoria and is, therefore, a perfect football chant

And for the grand finale.
“We Are the Champions” is a song by the British rock band Queen, first released on their 1977 album ‘News of the World’. Written by the lead singer Freddie Mercury, it is considered one of rock’s most recognizable anthems. The song was a worldwide success, reaching number two in the UK Singles Chart and number four on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.

“We Are the Champions” has become an anthem for victories at sporting events, including as an official theme song for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, and has been often used at the end of final games or Championship celebrations.

Where the future lies for football anthems remains to be seen. Not every club has one. Will more clubs begin to adopt anthems as the years pass, should something occur organically? Or are we now in a position where the clubs that have anthems have them and those that don’t, don’t? Only time will tell.