Football songs: 'By far the greatest team' and other classic football chants

In football atmosphere at games can make or break a football club. More commonly than not, the atmosphere at games usually gives an idea of how the club are faring.

If a team is playing well, then the atmosphere at certain grounds can be electric. This is usually illustrated by singing or chanting songs.

Most clubs have their own songs that only they sing, which separates them from the pack. Some of these songs and chants have been in the game since the 19^th century and almost since the beginning of the game. Some more universal chants can date back to the early days of football, while some are modern classics.

Football songs sung by many sets of fans

While it’s true that clubs usually have their own unique chants and songs, there is one song that many sets of fans sing, and it’s ‘We love, (insert name), we do, we love (insert name), oh (insert name) we love you’.

At some point, almost every set of fans have sung this song to profess their love for their club, especially during big moments of games or after massive wins.

Then there is ‘There’s only one (insert player)’, or ‘Super (insert name of player/club’. Fans often, especially at European grounds, sing ‘’Olé, Olé, Olé’, while some fans have used that tune to serenade certain players.

Another popular generic song is “When the [insert name] Go Marching In”, which has been sung by many fans over the years, including fans of Liverpool, Leeds and Southampton, among other clubs.

‘By far the greatest team the world has ever seen’ is also used by many clubs when things are going particularly well.

Some famous club anthems/songs

youll never walk alone above gates at anfield liverpool — Goran tek-en, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

One of the most famous football anthems you will hear at football grounds is ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’. This anthem, which is famously played before Premier League Liverpool, Scottish behemoth Celtic and German giants Borussia Dortmund enter the pitch in an effort to elicit the fan’s support.

The song, originally from the 1945 musical Carousel, was re-released by Merseybeat group Gerry and the Peacemakers in 1963. It gained popularity with Liverpool fans, and the club then claimed it as their anthem.

The song also became the club anthem of Scottish giants Celtic after the Hoops defeated the Merseysiders at Anfield in the semi-finals of the 1966 European Cup Winners’ Cup final. It is now played before every Celtic home game at Parkhead.

Dortmund’s association with the song is far more recent. BVB started using the song in 1996 after a local cover band, Pur Harmony, produced their version of the classic song.

It is also sung at other clubs, but the fact that three such influential European football clubs use it as their anthem shows the powerful meaning of the song.

There are several more famous anthems. At Manchester City, they have ‘Blue Moon’. City began using the song in the 1980s, with one fan famously quipping that the club embraced it, ‘As City only win once in a blue moon’.

Over at West Ham, the Hammers enter the pitch to “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles”. The Hammers are reported to have adopted the classic song as early as the 1920s, although evidence suggests it may have been slightly later in the 1940s that the club’s fans made the song their own.

Another song that is used on the entrance to the pitch by a few English football clubs is ‘Z Cars’. Although Watford uses the song, it is most famously used by Merseyside giants Everton, who have recently, in the last few years, added a siren before the use of the song for a more dramatic effect.

The song comes from the opening credits of the popular Merseyside-based Z-Cars from the 1960’s. The club adopted the song as their own in the same decade.

Club Songs

National Team Songs

The anti-anthems

While some clubs sing about their love of their clubs, opposition fans often like to dig at their opponents. Songs such as ‘Sign on, Sign On’, a song to the tune of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, which refers to unemployment in 1980s Liverpool, are still sung despite being highly dated. Nobody ever said football chants had to be intelligent or realistic!

Then there are songs like ‘Is this a library?’, usually sung by away fans in reference to home fans being quiet, or ‘Is this a fire drill?’ once again, usually sung by away fans if home fans decide to leave the stadium early.

A popular song sung by fans of bigger clubs to minnows is ‘Who the fu@@k, who the f@@k, who the f@@kin hell are you? Who the f@@kin hell are you?’

Then there are songs sung by fans of teams that are actually aimed at their own team, such as ‘We lose every week, we lose every week / You’re nothing special / We lose every week’.

The officials don’t escape the wrath of fans either, with common chants of ‘The referees a w@nker’ or ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’.

Songs and chants are a big part of the beautiful game

The beautiful game doesn’t always live up to its name. However, the chants, whether backing your own team or singing about your rivals, add to the match day experience.

Football is tribal, about belonging to something alongside like-minded people. Singing along with thousands of other people is a cathartic experience, and many would say it’s one of the most exhilarating feelings in the world. That is why football chants and songs play such an important role in football culture.