Football chant
Football chants can be simple, consisting of a few loud shouts or spoken words, but more often they are short lines of lyrics and sometimes longer songs.
They are typically performed repetitively, sometimes accompanied by handclapping, but occasionally they may be more elaborate involving musical instruments, props or choreographed routines.
[6] The first known song that references football, "The Dooley Fitba' Club" later known as "'Fitba' Crazy", was also written in the 1880s by James Curran, although it was intended for the music hall rather than the terrace.
Composer Sir Edward Elgar wrote a football song in honour of the Wolverhampton Wanderers striker, Billy Malpass, after watching a match in February 1898 between Wolves and Stoke City.
Another suggestion is the mixing of fan cultures from different countries through international football matches that started to be broadcast, such as the 1959 England's tour of South America and the 1962 World Cup.
[20] Liverpool supporters, particularly those on the Kop, were known for modifying songs in the early 1960s to suit their own purposes, and this practice quickly spread to fans of other clubs who created their own versions after hearing these chants.
[20] These may be taunts and insults aimed at the opposition teams or players to unnerve them, or obscene or slanderous chants targeted at individuals.
There may also be expressions of dissatisfaction, such as criticism of the team when they are performing poorly, or calling for the manager to resign, and occasionally against the owner of the club.
[42] For the Indonesia national football team one group of fans will chant "In-Do-Ne-Sia" with an air horn and hand clap in response.
[78] 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.
For Parma's home matches at the Stadio Ennio Tardini, during the entry of the teams in the field, Aida's triumphal march resounds as Verdi is a symbol of the city.
Italian Torino fans sing their signature chant Toro alè to the tune of French anthem "La Marseillaise".
[83] It was also used for a Tottenham song abusing Sol Campbell after his move to Arsenal in 2001[84] and was sung by Manchester United fans, in honour of Park Ji-Sung.
The melody of "Bella ciao" is often used as a chant by Italian ultras groups of Salernitana, Cosenza Calcio, A.S. Livorno and also outside of Italy like with Aris Thessaloniki, AEK Athens F.C.
[88] Italian tifosi are strongly used to sing mocks based on national, and internationally famous folk tunes, like "L'uva fogarina", "Oh!
In the United Kingdom, music hall songs such as "My Old Man (Said Follow the Van)", "Knees Up Mother Brown", "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles", "I Came, I Saw, I Conga'd" and "Two Little Boys" have long been used as the basis of terrace chants.
Popular standards such as "Winter Wonderland", Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer", and the 1958 Eurovision entry "Volare" are also widely adapted to suit players and managers.
[93][94] "Lola" by The Kinks, and "Hi Ho Silver Lining" by Jeff Beck have been adapted by several clubs – most prolific of these include Aston Villa, Sheffield Wednesday and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
[98] The emergence of funk and disco in the 1970s also made its mark on the terraces with songs such as "Go West" by the Village People[99] and "Oops Up Side Your Head" by The Gap Band remaining popular amongst fans.
Chants have been based on "Just Can't Get Enough" by Depeche Mode,[100] "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division,[101] "Pop Goes the World" by Men Without Hats, the Band Aid song "Do They Know It's Christmas?
[112] Chelsea fans then adapted the chant to match their own colours when Torres was transferred to the London club in 2011, with "He's now a Blue, he was a Red."
At this time, supporters standing on the Spion Kop terrace at Anfield began singing popular chart songs of the day.
The club has in the past also played other songs by the pair at its home ground Easter Road, such as "I'm on My Way", though none have the same association with the team that "Sunshine on Leith" does.
[128] Brighton & Hove Albion play "Good Old Sussex by the Sea" before each home game at Falmer Stadium, a tradition continued from their time at the "Goldstone Ground.
[citation needed] Feyenoord fans sing an adaption of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" after the team scores at De Kuip.
[citation needed] Coventry City former chairman and manager Jimmy Hill, adopted the "Eton Boating song" as the club's official anthem to create Play up Sky blues in the early 1960s.
[146] Fans of the Wales national team have adopted the song "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" by Frankie Valli as an anthem since 1993.
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.
"[151] Following the work of Pablo Alabarces and others, Eduardo Herrera suggests that soccer chanting in Argentina allows participants to create value around and give meaning to the idea of "aguante," which is "central in the construction of an ideal masculinity."
They might lead by giving verbal or visual cues to the head bombo player, or they might just independently start a chant and expect the ensemble to follow.
