The album was co-ordinated by the London-based English Football Association, a Music & Media Partnership host body.

RCA also revealed plans to release the album in Japan, declaring that it would "sell there purely on its content".

Of the singles released from the album, the most successful was by far Frank Skinner, David Baddiel and The Lightning Seeds' "Three Lions", the Official Song for the England Football Team for the tournament, which spent three weeks at number 1 in the UK Singles Chart and was certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry.

The movement developed as a reaction against various musical and cultural trends in the late 1980s and early 1990s, particularly the grunge phenomenon from the United States.

The album was co-ordinated by Music & Media Partnership for the host body, the English Football Association.

[8] It was rumoured at the time that Blur and Oasis, the two biggest Britpop bands and at the time rivals, would collaborate for the official England national team song for the event, but neither band recorded any music for the project, although Blur licensed their song "Parklife" for the compilation.

[2] Britpop band The Lightning Seeds were commissioned to write the "Official Song of the England national team".

Ian Broudie of the band wrote the music of "Three Lions", with comedians David Baddiel and Frank Skinner - presenters of football-themed comedy show Fantasy Football League at the time - providing the lyrics.

[10] However, the repeated failures have not dampened the feeling that England could again reach those heights ("Three Lions on a shirt, Jules Rimet still gleaming.

"Version One" features lyrics such as "Three Lions on a shirt / Just near where it says Umbro / The white one shows the dirt / The grey one not as much though," whilst "Version Two" sees them discuss writing the song in parody of Bruce Forsyth after Baddiel suggests writing about the Beautiful Game, to which Skinner suggests is Play Your Cards Right, with lyrics including Forsyth's catchphrases from the show "Nothing for a pair / Dollies do your dealing.

[13] Alternative dance band Black Grape recorded "England's Irie", a collaboration with former Clash member Joe Strummer and comedian Keith Allen.

The song was described as combining squelchy acid-house synths, Britpop riffs and baggy beats with comically nonsensical lyrics ("my wife’s lactating and I’m spectating"), vocodered chants and sampled commentary.

"[16] Original demos for the track included swirling chants and crowd noises, recorded by group member Robert Del Naja on a trip to Naples' San Paolo stadium, but they were dropped from the final version because they made it sound "too busy".

Northern Uproar recorded "I Am the Cosmos" which was re-released as the B-side to their single "Town", released 11 days later on 1 June 1996.

[18] Although Chapman considered the remix "awful", it was used for many years in the "Eat My Goal" segment on Ant & Dec's ITV children's breakfast show SMTV Live.

[1] On 27 May, the album was released by RCA in the other competing countries of the UEFA cup; Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden and Portugal.

[1] RCA also revealed plans to release the album in Japan, declaring that it would "sell there purely on its content".

"[26] In the UK, it was issued in three different formats; CD, cassette and a limited edition picture disc LP featuring only twelve tracks.

One side of the LP, also the face of the actual CD disc, features a vintage football with the names of the artists on the albums handwritten on it.

Christ, if it hadn't been for New Order's "World in Motion" England might, this summer, be walking out to Chas & Dave singing "Gotcha Mr Venables!"

Fortunately, for Euro'96 we've been spoiled stupid courtesy of a Britpop album as classy and feisty as a Stuart Pearce tackle.

[35] Furthermore, the "Euro '96" mix of "Eat My Goal", which does not feature on the album (with the related Black Cats Mix taking its place) was released as a double A-side with "London Tonight" (the lead single from Collapsed Lung's Cooler album) by London Records, reaching number 31 in the UK Singles Chart,[18] whilst the previously unreleased lyrical version of "The Big Man and the Scream Team Meet the Barmy Army Uptown" was released as a limited edition single on Creation Records on 3 June 1996, reaching number 17 in the UK Singles Chart.

"Kickabout" and "Eurochild Ninety 6", for example, were made available as B-sides to Teenage Fanclub and Massive Attack singles released in 1997 and 1998.

[17] Mark Chapman of Collapsed Lung was against this re-release, calling it a "blatant cash-in" by their former label Deceptive Records.

[citation needed] Sabotage Times included "England's Irie" in its 2012 list of "7 Great Football Songs You May Not Have Heard".

[47] In 2002, Universal Music also released a compilation titled The Beautiful Game, coinciding with the 2002 FIFA World Cup.