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https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyl...-chants-singing-samuel-fishwick-a4141286.html
The enduring importance of football chants
The atmosphere at London’s football matches is at a crossroads. Samuel Fishwick talks to the people using music to tackle the game’s problems
The sound of almost 60,000 Tottenham Hotspur fans singing Barry Manilow’s ‘Can’t Smile Without You’ isn’t music to everyone’s ears. But when the north London club’s new £850 million stadium opened at last in April, the roar of the crowd was deafening.
‘Everywhere we go,
Everywhere we go,
It’s the Tottenham boys,
Making all the noise’
The steep rake of the new ‘White Wall’, a 17,500-seat, single-tier south stand — designed to replicate the electric atmosphere of German side Borussia Dortmund’s Yellow Wall — trembled as Crystal Palace and Tottenham stepped out for the stadium’s inaugural game. What was less audible was the collective sigh of relief among fans. ‘I’ve been worried for a while that my passion for football was leaving me, and a big part of that was the atmosphere,’ says Nick Croft-Simon, 28, a Tottenham season ticket holder for more than 10 years. ‘At Wembley, you could hear a pin drop during some games. But it’s amazing here. It’s like a cross between church and the world’s biggest karaoke party.’
On a good day, at any given ground in London, the uncanny thrill of football chants sung by thousands of lungs in one voice is a spine-tingling experience. Unlikely pop songs, such as those by Atomic Kitten and Earth, Wind & Fire, are repurposed and born anew, thrust into the mix during England’s run to the semi-final of last summer’s World Cup. Hymns, like ‘Lord of the Dance’, are ever present, a pointer to the days when church and football attendance were two unshakeable fixtures of the weekend: the Saturday and Sunday service.
‘It’s very church-like, ritualistically, although I’d be surprised if the people singing on the terraces in the late Sixties and early Seventies were fervent church goers,’ says Dr Colin Shindler, a Cambridge University football sociologist and historian. ‘When they were good, they made you laugh, they were good humoured.’ A Manchester City fan for more than half a century, he recalls an FA Cup Final in the Fifties where copies of song sheets were handed out with the Daily Express along Wembley Way (songs included ‘The Happy Wanderer’ and ‘Abide with Me’).
‘The joy of going is standing shoulder-to-shoulder with complete strangers, bumping into people and singing your heart out,’ says Stuart Roy Clarke, a documentary photographer who has spent 30 years, ever since the Hillsborough disaster, recording the atmosphere at games for his major work, The Homes of Football. ‘Football, for most of my life, has been the thing that really made sense of the peculiarities in English societies.’
In London, though, match day atmosphere is at a crossroads. Every few years, TV rights to show the Premier League are auctioned off to the highest bidders (such as Sky and BT Sports), and the current broadcast deal is worth £5.14bn. But it’s in crisis on at least two fronts: the behaviour and volume of the crowds. Incidents of racism and abuse at football matches have marred high profile games in the 2018 /19 season. The racial abuse of Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge in December is indicative of a rising trend. Kick it Out, a football equality charity, publishes annual statistics based on reports of discrimination it has received over the previous 12 months. Its latest report showed there were 520 incidents in the 2017-18 season, up from 469 in 2016-17. More than half of these reports (53 per cent) were about racism.
Rising ticket prices also dampen atmosphere as fans become anxious about what they’ve paid to watch. ‘After 20 minutes of a game, the raucous atmosphere quietens, and there’s a nagging feeling of, “Am I getting my money’s worth? I’m a customer and I’m being let down,”’ says Roy Clarke. ‘Whereas before, there were only a few trophies and promotions — a game was a test of loyalty through all weather.’
The design of many modern stadiums — which lets noise float up into the air rather than reverberate around the terraces — has also been blamed for quieting matches. Don’t call it a comeback, but Spurs hope their new stadium remedies this. The state-of-the-art arena had been constructed with acoustics to ‘rival a concert hall’, according to its architect, Christopher Lee, of designers Populous. ‘The old White Hart Lane had an atmosphere that was, at the same time, both intimate and noisy,’ says Lee, ‘and so one of the primary objectives in the new Tottenham Hotspur stadium was to design for an atmosphere that was as good — if not better — than the old stadium, but with double the number of spectators.’
‘Atmosphere is part science — the mathematics of sightlines, peripheral views and feeling part of a big community — and part art, so there’s a bit of magic in there as well,’ Lee continues. ‘Singing and chanting are important parts of the football experience, so we designed the stadium bowl in the same way we design a big arena or concert hall — maximising an amazing acoustic environment. It’s all about reverberation times; using materials, shapes and surfaces to reflect the sound, so that the songs are louder and last longer. The 17,500-seat south stand is essentially an engine for noise inside the stadium. When you enter that space the noise just hits you — it’s a special moment.’
Henry Winter, chief football writer at The Times, says rethinking stadium design is just the first step in revitalising atmospheres. ‘Atmosphere is an issue in modern football. With some changes in the match-day fan base, there is a need for cheaper ticketing options in the 18-24 age groups,’ he says, ‘and also that many people are on their smartphones during games, recording the moment rather than living it. ‘Unless clubs, and the leagues, address ticketing issues, and remember that more and more revenue comes from broadcast, they have a growing problem on their hands. And broadcasters want a good atmosphere. At least Spurs have shown the way in maximising acoustics, and any future introduction of safe standing [design to ensure spectators can stand safely] will improve atmosphere further. As most people stood in the south stand anyway, the argument against safe standing lessens further.'
Social media is a double-edged sword for fan groups such as Chelsea’s We Are the Shed. ‘Before social media, creating a chant was a far more organic thing; down the pub first, then, if that went well, try it again with your mates in the concourse,’ says Richard Weekes, one of the group’s spokespeople. ‘If it took off there, then you’d step up to the big stage. Nowadays, you can get them going by getting a small group of people singing the song and posting it on social media.’
For instance, a song about defensive midfielder and World Cup winner with France, N’Golo Kanté, to the tune of Spandau Ballet’s ‘Gold’:
‘N’Golo-Oh!
Kanté will win you the ball,
You’ve got the power to know,
You’re indestructible,
Always believe in,
N’Golo-Oh!’
‘We sang it in a pub before an away game against United, and posted it on Twitter thinking nothing else of it,’ he says. ‘By the time we walked into the concourse, the whole place was singing it.’
He believes the widely reported problem with Chelsea’s small contingent of racist fans is pronounced but has been overblown by the media — and that the expressive atmosphere of games is, if anything, a useful tool to promote integration. ‘When you have 40,000 people in a highly charged environment, you’re bound to get people who take it too far. It’s wrong, but these people exist in our society. Football is a good vehicle for highlighting and condemning antisocial behaviour.’
Roy Clarke also says word of decline has been greatly exaggerated. He finds joy in little moments of community — when we speak, he has just finished photographing Maccabi London Lions, a Jewish team, who lit a candle in their dressing room before the game to commemorate the Holocaust. ‘Football is the one area of life I still really believe in,’ he says. ‘For all the division and Brexit, this was an area that was cantankerous, stupid, silly, full of people yelling at each other. Divisive, yes, but at the same time, people always realise why they’re at the match with he or she over there. Because they’re drawn to the same spectacle.’
The enduring importance of football chants
The atmosphere at London’s football matches is at a crossroads. Samuel Fishwick talks to the people using music to tackle the game’s problems
The sound of almost 60,000 Tottenham Hotspur fans singing Barry Manilow’s ‘Can’t Smile Without You’ isn’t music to everyone’s ears. But when the north London club’s new £850 million stadium opened at last in April, the roar of the crowd was deafening.
‘Everywhere we go,
Everywhere we go,
It’s the Tottenham boys,
Making all the noise’
The steep rake of the new ‘White Wall’, a 17,500-seat, single-tier south stand — designed to replicate the electric atmosphere of German side Borussia Dortmund’s Yellow Wall — trembled as Crystal Palace and Tottenham stepped out for the stadium’s inaugural game. What was less audible was the collective sigh of relief among fans. ‘I’ve been worried for a while that my passion for football was leaving me, and a big part of that was the atmosphere,’ says Nick Croft-Simon, 28, a Tottenham season ticket holder for more than 10 years. ‘At Wembley, you could hear a pin drop during some games. But it’s amazing here. It’s like a cross between church and the world’s biggest karaoke party.’
On a good day, at any given ground in London, the uncanny thrill of football chants sung by thousands of lungs in one voice is a spine-tingling experience. Unlikely pop songs, such as those by Atomic Kitten and Earth, Wind & Fire, are repurposed and born anew, thrust into the mix during England’s run to the semi-final of last summer’s World Cup. Hymns, like ‘Lord of the Dance’, are ever present, a pointer to the days when church and football attendance were two unshakeable fixtures of the weekend: the Saturday and Sunday service.
‘It’s very church-like, ritualistically, although I’d be surprised if the people singing on the terraces in the late Sixties and early Seventies were fervent church goers,’ says Dr Colin Shindler, a Cambridge University football sociologist and historian. ‘When they were good, they made you laugh, they were good humoured.’ A Manchester City fan for more than half a century, he recalls an FA Cup Final in the Fifties where copies of song sheets were handed out with the Daily Express along Wembley Way (songs included ‘The Happy Wanderer’ and ‘Abide with Me’).
‘The joy of going is standing shoulder-to-shoulder with complete strangers, bumping into people and singing your heart out,’ says Stuart Roy Clarke, a documentary photographer who has spent 30 years, ever since the Hillsborough disaster, recording the atmosphere at games for his major work, The Homes of Football. ‘Football, for most of my life, has been the thing that really made sense of the peculiarities in English societies.’
In London, though, match day atmosphere is at a crossroads. Every few years, TV rights to show the Premier League are auctioned off to the highest bidders (such as Sky and BT Sports), and the current broadcast deal is worth £5.14bn. But it’s in crisis on at least two fronts: the behaviour and volume of the crowds. Incidents of racism and abuse at football matches have marred high profile games in the 2018 /19 season. The racial abuse of Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge in December is indicative of a rising trend. Kick it Out, a football equality charity, publishes annual statistics based on reports of discrimination it has received over the previous 12 months. Its latest report showed there were 520 incidents in the 2017-18 season, up from 469 in 2016-17. More than half of these reports (53 per cent) were about racism.
Rising ticket prices also dampen atmosphere as fans become anxious about what they’ve paid to watch. ‘After 20 minutes of a game, the raucous atmosphere quietens, and there’s a nagging feeling of, “Am I getting my money’s worth? I’m a customer and I’m being let down,”’ says Roy Clarke. ‘Whereas before, there were only a few trophies and promotions — a game was a test of loyalty through all weather.’
The design of many modern stadiums — which lets noise float up into the air rather than reverberate around the terraces — has also been blamed for quieting matches. Don’t call it a comeback, but Spurs hope their new stadium remedies this. The state-of-the-art arena had been constructed with acoustics to ‘rival a concert hall’, according to its architect, Christopher Lee, of designers Populous. ‘The old White Hart Lane had an atmosphere that was, at the same time, both intimate and noisy,’ says Lee, ‘and so one of the primary objectives in the new Tottenham Hotspur stadium was to design for an atmosphere that was as good — if not better — than the old stadium, but with double the number of spectators.’
‘Atmosphere is part science — the mathematics of sightlines, peripheral views and feeling part of a big community — and part art, so there’s a bit of magic in there as well,’ Lee continues. ‘Singing and chanting are important parts of the football experience, so we designed the stadium bowl in the same way we design a big arena or concert hall — maximising an amazing acoustic environment. It’s all about reverberation times; using materials, shapes and surfaces to reflect the sound, so that the songs are louder and last longer. The 17,500-seat south stand is essentially an engine for noise inside the stadium. When you enter that space the noise just hits you — it’s a special moment.’
Henry Winter, chief football writer at The Times, says rethinking stadium design is just the first step in revitalising atmospheres. ‘Atmosphere is an issue in modern football. With some changes in the match-day fan base, there is a need for cheaper ticketing options in the 18-24 age groups,’ he says, ‘and also that many people are on their smartphones during games, recording the moment rather than living it. ‘Unless clubs, and the leagues, address ticketing issues, and remember that more and more revenue comes from broadcast, they have a growing problem on their hands. And broadcasters want a good atmosphere. At least Spurs have shown the way in maximising acoustics, and any future introduction of safe standing [design to ensure spectators can stand safely] will improve atmosphere further. As most people stood in the south stand anyway, the argument against safe standing lessens further.'
Social media is a double-edged sword for fan groups such as Chelsea’s We Are the Shed. ‘Before social media, creating a chant was a far more organic thing; down the pub first, then, if that went well, try it again with your mates in the concourse,’ says Richard Weekes, one of the group’s spokespeople. ‘If it took off there, then you’d step up to the big stage. Nowadays, you can get them going by getting a small group of people singing the song and posting it on social media.’
For instance, a song about defensive midfielder and World Cup winner with France, N’Golo Kanté, to the tune of Spandau Ballet’s ‘Gold’:
‘N’Golo-Oh!
Kanté will win you the ball,
You’ve got the power to know,
You’re indestructible,
Always believe in,
N’Golo-Oh!’
‘We sang it in a pub before an away game against United, and posted it on Twitter thinking nothing else of it,’ he says. ‘By the time we walked into the concourse, the whole place was singing it.’
He believes the widely reported problem with Chelsea’s small contingent of racist fans is pronounced but has been overblown by the media — and that the expressive atmosphere of games is, if anything, a useful tool to promote integration. ‘When you have 40,000 people in a highly charged environment, you’re bound to get people who take it too far. It’s wrong, but these people exist in our society. Football is a good vehicle for highlighting and condemning antisocial behaviour.’
Roy Clarke also says word of decline has been greatly exaggerated. He finds joy in little moments of community — when we speak, he has just finished photographing Maccabi London Lions, a Jewish team, who lit a candle in their dressing room before the game to commemorate the Holocaust. ‘Football is the one area of life I still really believe in,’ he says. ‘For all the division and Brexit, this was an area that was cantankerous, stupid, silly, full of people yelling at each other. Divisive, yes, but at the same time, people always realise why they’re at the match with he or she over there. Because they’re drawn to the same spectacle.’
