How do new football songs get distributed to the fans?
Posted by Theal12@reddit | AskABrit | View on Reddit | 49 comments
New to the UK and soccer culture. The whole concept of football songs is new (and delightful) to me. But a player has a life scandal and it’s already set to music by the next game and it seems everyone already knows the lyrics. How?
Inner_Farmer_4554@reddit
I may be wrong, but I suspect that Brits are also indoctrinated into the art of group chants/singalongs by childhood exposure to panto...
2xtc@reddit
Not panto, but singing hymns in assembly during primary school at least once a week for 6 years.
UnpredictiveList@reddit
It depends when the match is. But let’s say it’s Saturday.
Monday: the team board of chants meet. Discuss how the last games songs went, evaluate our key singers, and decide on any new members. All 6 and their wives must agree.
Tuesday: we check the suggestion box, WhatsApp group and P.O. Box for any suggestions. The wives throw out any stupid ones or any banned songs (e.g. no Taylor swift or elvis songs are allowed by the FA)
Wednesday: we run through the suggestions as the board and pick top 10. We do our first draft of the lyrics.
Thursday: all the local fans meet up, we go to the training ground, and share the tune then the lyrics on the big screen. We practice for about 90 minutes, so it’s similar to a game
Friday: final decisions are made, the wives provide votes if we have more than 3 new songs. Usually we retire 1-2 a week and bring in 1-2 more. Some do go into rotation.
Saturday: back at the training ground in the morning. and the fans that live too far away for Thursday join in. The players are there too for realism.
Then we head to the game. In the home stand if you look up, there’s usually 5 lights in a horizontal row. They flash 6 times and which ever one flashes we know which song to sing.
This obviously depends on the level of the club, and some clubs run things differently. Ipswich Town don’t have any process, they just make it up but that’s why it’s always about someone else to the same tune.
Most won’t risk that after what happened to Tranmere in 98’.
Hope that helps.
JinxThePetRock@reddit
This needs a 'fly on the wall' style documentary. It'd be essential viewing for every fan.
PartTimeLegend@reddit
The Ted Lasso spin off we’ve all been waiting for.
UnpredictiveList@reddit
Maybe Ryan Reynolds will do a spin off for Netflix.
Littleleicesterfoxy@reddit
The process is a little different at Leicester, we normally just dust off oooooooohhhhhh you’re shit arrrrrggggghhhhh as the goalie kicks the ball and go with that as no one else has used it since the 90s.
RandyMarshmall0w@reddit
In Newcastle we do a bleep test to see how fast we can chant the Blaydon races.
FatherOblivionn@reddit
What happened to yranmere in 98
UnpredictiveList@reddit
Toy Story. They used the tune of “you’ve got a friend in me”. “We’ve got John Morrissey”.
Disney were NOT happy. I think they had to send Lee Jones off to work at Epcot.
FishUK_Harp@reddit
RIP the distinctly-not-scousers.
hesgotredhair@reddit
I think you need to point out how complicated it gets if there’s a midweek game: it impossible to do all the above in three days.
Most board of chants split to try and coordinate each upcoming match, but it’s difficult to get the ratios right depending on the importance of the midweek game - you might get some wife swapping, obvs.
But it all works out in the end eh?
Unroasted5430@reddit
What's the issue with Elvis and Taylor Swift?
UnpredictiveList@reddit
Taylor owns a stake via one of her management company’s of 2 teams that both qualified for the champions league, which means her songs belong to them. If it was 1, it would be fine but there’s a conflict.
We just don’t like Elvis.
chukkysh@reddit
This is glorious.
ignatiusjreillyXM@reddit
As a Forest Green fan, can confirm that Ipswich are top among all the teams we have played ever for spontaneous improvised banter chanting. As we had to remind them, "European champions? You weren't even born", as well as "League Two champions, you'll never sing that".
Tldr is hardcore away fans come up with stuff on the trip up and in pubs, and it percolates out from their efforts quite successfully
St2Crank@reddit
Can confirm, Man United season ticket holder 20 years.
Theal12@reddit (OP)
And this is why I love living in the UK.! My regards to the wives
tykeoldboy@reddit
This is the correct answer
wtf_amirite@reddit
I've been to games where a "conductor" has stood on a seat facing away from the pitch to "the choir" and shouted each line in advance. By two or three runs through everyone's got it.
595659565956@reddit
In the UK?! Never seen that myself, plenty of times on the continent though
wtf_amirite@reddit
Yeah up in Aberdeen, in the family stand (Merkland). Not all the time, but occasionally.
terryjuicelawson@reddit
Away games can help, as it is small groups of die-hards who may all go up by bus together. But many of the chants are based around the same tunes and have been going for decades. Like Go West or Give Peace a Chance as the basis, hymns even, then whatever fits lyrically on top. It can be one pocket of fans, the rest of the crowd find it funny, it takes off from there.
adamfirth146@reddit
Rotherham had an away midweek cup game against Chesterfield a few months ago. Those fans sang more songs then 9000 home fans on a Saturday. My personal favourite was 'You can shove your fucking spire up your arse' or 'Your just a bus stop in Mansfield'.
terryjuicelawson@reddit
To the tunes of "she'll be coming round the mountain" and "Guantanamera" I imagine.
adamfirth146@reddit
I had to check Guantanamera as I hadn't heard of it but you got both correct. There's a limited number of tunes really ain't there lol.
The_Wallet_Smeller@reddit
As a Chesterfield fan I remember a trip Millmoor many years ago and I distinctly remember singing “You can shove your Peter Elliot up your arse” and “sad ginger wanker”. To said Peter Elliot as he was receiving some award on the field at half time.
However, the one thing we can all agree on is “We hate Donny and we had Donny!!” Right?
adamfirth146@reddit
All part of the fun isn't it. Yeah fuck Donny. But at the same time it's another local Derby and I hope your lot get promoted as well as oddly enough chesterfield are closer to where I live so another local game. Then we will have Mansfield, Chezzy, Rotherham, Doncaster, Huddersfield, Bradford and Barnsley all relatively close.
adamfirth146@reddit
All part of the fun isn't it. Yeah fuck Donny. But at the same time it's another local Derby and I hope your lot get promoted as well as oddly enough chesterfield are closer to where I live so another local game. Then we will have Mansfield, Chezzy, Rotherham, Doncaster, Huddersfield, Bradford and Barnsley all relatively close.
Similar_Quiet@reddit
That last one is savage.
OverallResolve@reddit
A lot of the time it is impromptu. I remember being at a Fulham game during a spell of 0-0s and starting “last, last on match of the day… again”. Other times people think things up and share on twitter or chat about it with mates at the pub. Easier at a way games.
SixCardRoulette@reddit
Usually it's a combination of away fans getting together in the pub or on the journey, a good idea for a song topic, and usually one of the repertoire of stock tunes that get adapted for chants which... nobody knows how this happens, but there are just a bunch of popular songs that have somehow become part of the canon of standard tunes:
Guantanamera ("One Johnny Williams, there's only one Johnny Williams" / "Shit town in Lincoln, you're just a shit town in Lincoln")
Sloop John B ("You'll never sing that, you'll never sing that, Rutland County Champions, you'll never sing that", or my personal favorites for teams in poor form: "we lose every week, we lose every week, you're nothing special, we lose every week" (or, if somehow winning, "we lose every week, how shit must you be, we lose every week")
Bread of Heaven (quintessentially "you're not singing any more" also "let's pretend we scored a goal")
Stars and Stripes Forever, aka Here We Go or, for fans of a certain age, Niall Quinn's Disco Pants
Son Of My Father ("Ohh, Billy Billy, Billy Billy Billy Billy Whitlingham")
Go West ("one nil to the Arsenal", "You're shit and you know you are", "Three nil and you fucked it up")
The Battle Hymn of the Republic ("Glory glory Man United / Tottenham Hotspur / whatever team u/fits four syllables)
Oddly you can't usually write a new original tune and have the fans pick it up - Three Lions is probably the only one that I can remember working (both done straight when England play, and with the lyrics changed for club games - within months of Euro 96 rival fans were singing "He's fucking shite, he's fucking shite, Shearer's fucking shite")
Anyway there are a few others I can't think of off the top of my head, but if you come up with funny lyrics that scan well to one of those tunes, everyone in the stand will be able to pick it up after one or two goes.
Either-Connection775@reddit
Aiii big up to Rutland ❤️
Either-Connection775@reddit
I remember my dad telling me in the 60s that him and some mates would write some lyrics, make loads of copies and distribute them around the Stretford End pre-game. I think now it’s easier!
narnababy@reddit
There was a bloke who genuinely used to hand out song sheets at Halesowen games 😂
FjortoftsAirplane@reddit
Most of them spread in pubs before the game. Enough fans pick it up there and then when it starts in the ground others figure it out. Most tunes are recycled or fairly basic and easy to learn, and it's not like the lyrics are too complicated.
I also suspect away games are a factor. When you go to away games it's usually the most dedicated/enthusiastic fans, and then since a lot travel on coach/train together and mass around the few pubs that accept away fans you have smaller groups to pick it up and spread it.
generalscruff@reddit
Yeah back when I was big into the football away day thing (still love them, it's just hard to get tickets now) a new chant would get going in a pub and on the stadium concourse before the match and if it was funny or a good tune it would end up getting chanted at the next home game
Deadend_Friend@reddit
Half of it is clubs hearing another club singing a song, slightly changing the words so it fits their club / player and then singing it.
Emotional-Section981@reddit
This was discussed on the This is Entertainment podcast last week. As said above it’s basically the same tune just different words which are usually pretty simple
Often_Tilly@reddit
Came here to say this! Also, it's The Rest is Entertainment if Op is looking for it.
Emotional-Section981@reddit
Oops. Thank you for the clarification
MasterpieceAlone8552@reddit
99% Invisible podcast recently did an episode on exactly this topic called One-Nil to the Arsenal. Worth a listen
Theal12@reddit (OP)
Thank you! Off to look for it
NuclearExchange@reddit
https://99percentinvisible.org/episodes/
Theal12@reddit (OP)
thank you
The_Yellow_King@reddit
https://youtu.be/LtmSPv1m2MY?si=Dq1kRp3HhPR31QuN
OctaviousSludberry@reddit
Have you heard of the Internet?
Drewski811@reddit
The tune makes it obvious. Only takes one small gang to know it, typically pre-arranged in a pub, and only a few tunes are really used.
Spreads through the crowd quickly if it's half decent.
qualityvote2@reddit
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