WPM Semi Final Leg 1 vs Melbourne Victory | Sun 12th May | 6:00pm | Sky Sport 3

Do Victory fans actually sing the lyrics? Most sporting crowds around the world just do the whole "da da da" thing to the melody/riff.

That song has been played to death. Heard Jack White play it live in Christchurch the other year and it did nothing for me, having heard it enough times to last several lifetimes. Though I had to admire Jack and his band's enthusiasm while playing it, they really seemed thrilled by how much the crowd was loving it and were doing anything but phoning it in. 

Where are the lads from Shihad? 

‘Put the clocks back for the winter…’

They're Wellington lads, it'd be perfect. Probably too good of an idea for Domey to pull off. Though in fairness to him it isn't like he is getting the ticket money to spend, the APL is. 

WanderingSheep

Nice bit of trivia that, didn’t realise he penned it in Melbourne! 

Pretty sure Victory fans were chanting it before it became a big international football chant as well.

imanixsupporter

They're Wellington lads, it'd be perfect. Probably too good of an idea for Domey to pull off. Though in fairness to him it isn't like he is getting the ticket money to spend, the APL is. 

martinb

Where are the lads from Shihad? 

‘Put the clocks back for the winter…’

It's a song about someone who's away from Wellington and pining to get back. Is kind of apt for a team that spends so much time in Australia, it's also one of the few classic Kiwi songs which is not overplayed or associated with egg-ball. 

And for someone who’s dead keen to be at the home of football but can’t be this time…

Violin nothing, let's get a goddamn bagpiper out there playing "Oh Wellington" aka When The Saints Go Marching In, that'll put the fear of the Lord into the vuc

Kazoos. End of story.

coochiee

To be fair the biggest game in the history of Wellington Phoenix FC, is not when you want to do the opposition a favour by making them briefly think they are back at AAMI Park.

But a regular season game at the ROF why the fudge not. The Nix are in the entertainment business after all.

No chance ROF feels like the AAMI Park. Severe shortage of annoying seagulls, for starters. Better weather too. 

Doloras

Violin nothing, let's get a goddamn bagpiper out there playing "Oh Wellington" aka When The Saints Go Marching In, that'll put the fear of the Lord into the vuc

Sorry are you telling me that 'Oh Wellington' has a tune?

 

I like how one journalist that points out that Victory has been cast as the antagonists. Lol. 

That journalist also implying that the Nix, are most A League fans '2nd team' now, ie most neutrals will be cheering on the Nix fairytale against the VUC villians.

It's about 5 mins into the 6 min post match conference for those interested enough to listen.

Procrastinixing

I like how one journalist that points out that Victory has been cast as the antagonists. Lol. 

"It was an own goal. IT WAS AN OWN GOAL." lol

Ryan

WanderingSheep

Nice bit of trivia that, didn’t realise he penned it in Melbourne! 

Pretty sure Victory fans were chanting it before it became a big international football chant as well.

How long ago would that have been?
I remember hearing it at The Emirates in 2013

Gooner 4 Life

Ryan

WanderingSheep

Nice bit of trivia that, didn’t realise he penned it in Melbourne! 

Pretty sure Victory fans were chanting it before it became a big international football chant as well.

How long ago would that have been?
I remember hearing it at The Emirates in 2013

According to Wiki it's been in use way before the VUC.

Sporting events

"Seven Nation Army" was played before each game at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

According to Alan Siegel of Deadspin, "Seven Nation Army"'s riff is "an organic part of sports culture".[2] The riff is commonly used in sports audience's chants, in which each note is usually sung using the "oh" sound.[15] This phenomenon has its roots in a UEFA Champions League football match in Italy in October 2003, during which fans of Belgium's Club Brugge KV began singing the riff in a game against Italy's A.C. Milan. They continued the chant after Club Brugge KV striker Andrés Mendoza scored a goal. Club Brugge KV won the game, and the song subsequently became the team's "unofficial sports anthem".[2][15]

After A.S. Roma won against Club Brugge KV in Belgium in 2006, fans of the former team began to use the riff as a chant, having learned it from the latter. Fans of the Italy national football team proceeded to chant the riff at games leading up to the 2006 FIFA World Cup,[15] and "Seven Nation Army"—known as the "po po po po po" song among Italians—became the team's "unofficial theme".[2] After Italy won the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final, the riff was sung in Rome's streets.[2] Regarding the song's popularity in Italy, Jack White said:

Not long after Italy won the World Cup, broadcaster Rai capitalised on the song's newfound popularity by using the song as the theme tune to game show Tutto per tutto. The song's usage has since expanded into various other sports settings. By 2007, audiences at the Penn State Nittany Lions' American football games had begun chanting the riff in support of the team; before that the Buffalo Bills had used it as their kickoff song, since then, other American football audiences have chanted the riff as well.[15]

Meanwhile, Arrangers' Publishing Company began publishing marching band arrangements of "Seven Nation Army", and the song has since been played by marching bands at various colleges, including Boston College and the University of Southern California.[2][80] The song has been chanted by NFL fans and played by NBA and NHL teams,[15][81] and it was once chanted by Formula One racing driver Nico Rosberg.[82] Audiences often replace the "oh"s in the chant with the names of members of sports teams, as with Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City F.C., Thiago Silva of Chelsea FC, Maxi Moralez and Andrea Pirlo of New York City FC, Santi Cazorla, formerly of Arsenal FC, and Divock Origi of Liverpool F.C.[3][15]

"Seven Nation Army" has served as an official anthem at various sporting events; NPR's Rick Karr remarked that the song is "arguably... the world's most popular sports anthem".[15] It has been played at each UEFA European Football Championship since 2008,[83] and it was played prior to the start of each game during the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Karr estimated that the song has reached "hundreds of millions of television viewers around the world" as a result of its usage in the latter tournament.[15]

Multiple sports teams and personalities have also used "Seven Nation Army" as their official song or walkout music, including boxers Gennady Golovkin and Anthony Joshua,[84][85] American football teams the Baltimore Ravens, the Buffalo Bills[86] (specifically when Buffalo returns the ball to the opposing team) and the Detroit Lions,[2] ice hockey team the New Jersey Devils,[87] baseball team the Baltimore Orioles,[88] and darts world champion Michael van Gerwen.[89]

The song is also played at the home games of A-League team Melbourne Victory following a team goal; coincidentally, the team plays at AAMI Park – located only 2,300 feet (700 m) from the Corner Hotel, where the riff was originally composed.[90][91][92]

Current WWE commentator Pat McAfee used the song as an entrance theme, including for his match against Austin Theory at WrestleMania 38. The song is also played at home games of the NBA team Miami Heat especially as the intro for the starting lineup and intro video, even to this day.[93][94]

Gooner 4 Life

Ryan

WanderingSheep

Nice bit of trivia that, didn’t realise he penned it in Melbourne! 

Pretty sure Victory fans were chanting it before it became a big international football chant as well.

How long ago would that have been?
I remember hearing it at The Emirates in 2013

No idea, it seems like it was fairly well established in the 2006/2007 season and seems to have been one of the main chants of Victory at that point. I googled for the oldest video and found one of a victory fan march (towards the end of this clip):

Seeing as the Ian Curtis mural in Mt Cook has been in the news again, we could keep with the strings theme and get Graeme Jefferies (who has been living in Wgtn recently) of The Cakekitchen to play his cello cover of Atmosphere.

Crazy idea, why don't the APL ask each A League club for next season to find themselves a classically trained musician with a bit of stage presence, choose a fitting club song and have it played prior each home game. Yipe a complete and utter copy of what the VUC have done. If something works well just fudgeing copy & expand it. It may be a 5 game fad, or it may actually stick.

It's a league now having to surive on a pauper's media rights deal, but they have just seen the Victory violinist go viral. It engages the fans, makes most (not all) of us happy watching it, and might just drag a few casuals along on game days. Give the league a bit of worldwide attention, even if briefly.  

Sure will be 2 full houses this weekend and for the final, but that's masking  the league as a whole as not being in great shape.