Football and Music have always been good friends and go along well. Football players, around the world, are seen getting down of the team buses with their big-booming headphones stuck to their ears and some have been clicked with those, even while practicing. Music is a driving force, no question about it, but every type of music has its own audience. Many clubs around the world have been tilted towards playing some of the well known songs before the home team hops on to the pitch just to spice things up, to get the home crowd buzzing and sometimes to intimidate the opponents.
There is no approval required for the fact that the song – ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ has a huge impact both on the visiting team and on the home team. It intimidates the former and rejuvenates the latter. Just like every cuisine around the world has its own taste, TheHardTackle puts under the microscope some of the big teams in on the footballing globe and presents a platter of their entrance songs.
SCHALKE 04 (Germany)
“Whatever You Want” by Status Quo
The early 1980s Rock track by the English band Status Quo is mashed up by the DJ at the Veltins Arena, who very precisely integrates the local mining song “Das Steigerlied” with the tune to which the whole arena syncs, when the Die Königsblauen or the Royal Blues from the Gelsenkirchen take the pitch for a competitive match. The Ruhr District, which was once among the biggest producer of Coal in Europe, certainly has the entrance music to which their team hops out, their own way. Rock music blended with a local ‘Good Luck’ mining hit song certainly has had their fans head banging over the years.
AC MILAN (Italy)
“Sweet Child o’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses
One of the world’s most triumphant clubs, Italian giants soar out of the tunnel at San Siro to the riffs of Sweet Child o’ Mine, the hard rock blockbuster by the American band Guns N’ Roses. The chart breaker track is from the band’s 1987 studio album ‘Appetite for Destruction’, which clearly indicates and aptly suits the intentions of the Rossonneri and their swagger of seven European cups. Club owner Silvio Bersculoni is a busy Prime Minister, but it is yet to be seen whether the state has listed him down as an official head banger or not.
St. PAULI FC (Germany)
“Hells Bells” by AC/DC
Reading the above lines would certainly prompt the famous urban words “Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about” from the mouth of a religious rock music follower. St Pauli FC is anti-fascist cult club based in the red-light district of Hamburg, famous in Bundesliga for the enormous number of loons present in their stands and their away jerseys. The hard rock song, which starts with bells ringing and then chugging riffs taking over, certainly links well with the atmosphere at the Millerntor Stadium since over a decade now. The ‘The Pirates of the League’ got relegated last season, but the supporters would love to see their team to be back in the League, ‘Back in Black’ the album states.
BRONDBY IF (Denmark)
“Jump” by Van Halen
One of the most popular tracks of mid 1980s, an electronic rock song by American band Van Halen, gets the odd thirty thousand people at the Brondby Stadium punching the air, when the Yellow and Blues take the field on the outskirts of Copenhagen. The club has won ten Danish championships in the last two decades and has been acrimonious when it comes to big games, especially against their fierce rivals FC Copenhagen, commonly known as ‘New Firm’ games. Certainly inspired by the song and the band, there are no awards for guessing from where those hostile tackles and chants come from during the game.
SSC NAPOLI (Italy)
“Go West” by Pet Shop Boys
The coastal city of Naples has, undoubtedly, relished and enjoyed its share of glory days when a certain Diego Maradona guided the club to two titles in 1987 and 1990. Over the years, SSC Napoli has been known for its stern rivalry with AS Roma, Lazio and Hellas Verona, but the song to which the Stadio San Paolo welcomes the Partenopei, doesn’t appropriately suit the fist pumping Ultras. Originally a disco song, ‘Go West‘ was made famous by the techno pop group Pet Shop Boys. This song is often teamed up by Napul’e, an inspiring rhyme to the city, sung by a local musician Pino Daniele. The songs can surely end with listeners having their eyes welled up and how do they manage to pump up the ambitious sixty thousand partisan crowd in Naples, is surely baffling.
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN (France)
“Who Said I Would” by Phil Collins
There are always some exceptions and the footballing world hasn’t ignored the saying. PSG, popularly known as Les Rouge-et-bleu, is the only club, apart from Olympic de Marseille, to be honored in Europe. The team skips onto the pitch humming to charming number ‘Who Said I Would’, a pop track by drummer and vocalist Phil Collins. We have seen fans of football clubs around the globe, head banging and rocking to some power packed tunes, sung by big leather studded bands in the music world. Certainly the Parisians like to get into the groove, as their team prepares for a home game at Parc Des Princes, flawlessly fitting the album name, No Jacket Required.
Despite the above connections, it is without an iota of doubt that nothing makes the supporters and the team more pumped up for a game than the National Anthem. Country over club. Hence proved!