Top Ten Songs about Football

Obviously 'Love on the Terraces' by Serious Drinking is my favourite track of all-time, but what about other football related pop cross-overs? Here we present the top ten songs about football from an 'Into the Valley...' perspective, which means some or all the songs will have nothing to do with football, but quite possibly something to do with Doncaster Rovers.

The Undertones - When Saturday Comes

It's somehow reminiscent of 'Paint it Black' and other than the title, appears to have little or nothing to do with football, but I can't listen to it without thinking about match days at Belle Vue and singing it whenever I see the magazine.

Thousand Yard Stare - No Score after Extra Time

Love is just one massive football analogy for baggy also-rans Thousand Yard Stare. Strangely it sounds better now than it did in the 90's and reminds me more of the Bluebells than the Happy Mondays, which is probably a good thing.

The Lightning Seeds - Life of Riley

In the 80's this was the ubiquitous backing music for all the highlights and feature clips shown on Match of the Day. I literally used to dream about the day when Rovers would have a compilation of clips backed by the 'Life of Riley', but sadly it never happened.

Colourbox - The Official Colourbox World Cup Theme

It possibly sounds more like a Dr. Who theme than a World Cup soundtrack but it just brings back so many memories of the 1986 World Cup. I watched it on a black and white TV, in a damp student house listening to Colourbox and it had more atmosphere than the current widescreen 3-D Sky TV experience.

The Fall - Theme from Sparta FC

Who knows what any of the Fall's songs are about let alone this one, but there's an agreeable football-chant-along quality to Sparta FC. It's the first time I've seen the video but it fails to impart any information to make matters any clearer. You've got to love Mark E Smith haven't you?

Barmy Army - Sharp as a Needle

You don't have to be a Liverpool fan to enjoy 'Sharp as a Needle' but I'm guessing not may Manchester United fans have it on their playlists. I personally just love the combination of 'Abide with Me' with the dubby beats and scratchy football samples.

Inspiral Carpets - Song for a Family

In the early 90's this song spoke volumes to me about life, work, family and football. The Inspirals provided unexpected social commentary that few other bands could even dream of. 'His side were two goals down and playing lousy, but he still believes his team were going to win,' more or less sums it up for Rovers fans.

Half Man Half Biscuit - Dukla Prague Away Kit

This basically summarises all my experiences of playing competitive Subbuteo as a child. If you're playing Subbuteo against yourself everything goes swimmingly in my experience, but throw in another person and it generally ends in a fight and broken plastic. I love the line '..and your travelling army of synthetic supporters would be taken away from you and thrown in the bin.'

Serious Drinking - Spirit of '66

You could almost compile a top ten of football related tracks by Serious Drinking, but I'm currently loving the one minute fifty-three seconds of their homage to the '66 world cup squad aimed at encouraging their 1982 equivalents. As with all their songs it's a jaunty little number and was possibly better than the official World Cup anthem. Needless to say it didn't work and we went home as losers without actually losing a game.

Eels - Mr. E's Beautiful Blues

Absolutely nothing to do with football, but it was the music I was listening to on the day of Doncaster Rover's triumphant return to league football in 2003. It just seemed to sum up the whole day, the atmosphere inside the Britannia Stadium and life in general. For that specific moment in time it was the perfect football soundtrack.