As England secured their place in the Euro final on Tuesday with a stunning 4-0 victory over Sweden, football fans across the country cheered them on–and one familiar song could be heard everywhere.
Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline has been heard at major English football events in recent years and is now one of the country’s favourites–perhaps after only Three Lions (Football’s Coming Home).
But how did a song by an American singer, from 1969, become an unofficial anthem for English football fans?
Bringing the noise! 🔊🏴 pic.twitter.com/UjaLUJZg5M
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) July 26, 2022
How Sweet Caroline became England football fans’ anthem
Neil Diamond wrote Sweet Caroline in 1969 for his then-wife, Marcia Murphy, but her name didn’t fit the tune, so he went with Caroline, after the daughter of John F Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy.
Nearly 30 years later, the song was first played at sporting events in the US.
In the late 1990s, the Boston Red Sox played the song for an employee who just had a baby named Caroline. The baseball team thought it was good luck, and from 2003, it was played every week.
Eventually other sporting teams picked it up, and it has been played at Arsenal and Aston Villa games, as well as at other sporting events like cricket and boxing matches.
But the Euro 2020 tournament was when fans of the England men’s team really adopted Sweet Caroline.
Following England’s defeat of Germany in the quarter-final, Wembley DJ Tony Parry decided to play Sweet Caroline over Vindaloo. The switch up paid off, and the crowd went wild for the Neil Diamond classic.
The stadium erupted with tens of thousands of fans singing “Good times never seemed so good, (so good, so good, so good).”
Since then, it’s found itself a permanent spot on the set list for England fans to sing at stadiums and pubs–and the women’s Euro tournament is no different.
Following their semi-final win, videos emerged of football fans singing Sweet Caroline within the stadium, at fan zones, and on the street.
Although its adoption as a football anthem may have happened by chance–it looks like it’s here to stay.
When you wake up and realise England are in the #WEURO2022 final 😃💃 pic.twitter.com/ZPROIL1bPr
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 27, 2022
Sweet Caroline lyrics
Where it began, I can’t begin to know when
But then I know it’s growing strong
Was in the spring
And spring became the summer
Who’d have believed you’d come along
Hands, touching hands
Reaching out, touching me, touching you
Sweet Caroline
Good times never seemed so good
I’ve been inclined
To believe they never would
But now I
Look at the night and it don’t seem so lonely
We filled it up with only two
And when I hurt
Hurting runs off my shoulders
How can I hurt when holding you
One, touching one
Reaching out, touching me, touching you
Sweet Caroline
Good times never seemed so good
I’ve been inclined
To believe they never would
Oh no, no
Sweet Caroline
Good times never seemed so good
Sweet Caroline
I believe they never could
Sweet Caroline
Good times never seemed so good
