How Neil Diamond’s Hit Song became England fans’ anthem of choice
If football fans were required to pay royalties every time they sang a song or a specific artist, Neil Diamond would have made a lot of money in recent weeks.
That’s based on how many times Sweet Caroline has been sung loudly and proudly by England fans before, during, and after their team’s Euro 2024 matches, despite performances on the pitch that don’t always set hearts racing.
Diamond’s 1969 song has become practically ubiquitous whenever the England football team plays a big match. That is unlikely to alter very soon.
“Sweet Caroline has become a great addition,” says Steve Riding, who has followed England across the world, including World Cups in South Africa, Brazil, Russia, and Qatar.
“I was at Wembley for every England game at the past Euros, and it contributed to a terrific atmosphere, which isn’t often the case at that stadium. We all want to see the ‘good times’ return to England, and this upbeat tune fits the bill.”
As England prepares for their Euro 2024 quarterfinal against Switzerland in Dusseldorf, it’s worth considering how a soft-rock anthem penned a year before manager Gareth Southgate was born has become the fans’ favorite song.
Football, in fact, arrived late to the Sweet Caroline party. Back in the 1990s, the NFL’s Carolina Panthers played the song at every home game, with residents viewing the catchy chorus as a nearly-perfect ode to their home state of North Carolina.
The Boston Red Sox were the next to adopt a song initially written as a tribute to Diamond’s then-wife Marcia, but her name did not scan, so it was replaced with the three-syllable name of John F. Kennedy’s daughter, whom Diamond had discovered on a magazine cover by coincidence.
The song became so associated with the Red Sox that Diamond appeared at Fenway Park to perform a live version following the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013. After the attacks, other baseball teams across the country played in solidarity.
Sports fans on the other side of the Atlantic took slightly slower to respond. However, rugby league and darts enthusiasts, as well as Northern Ireland football fans, eventually caught the Sweet Caroline bug.
Boxing, too, has seen Josh Warrington’s legions of fans turn the song into a mainstay of big fight nights featuring the two-time world featherweight champion.
“It’s a bit of an anthem that goes across generations,” says the 33-year-old, whose home city fights in Leeds became famous for their rowdy atmosphere, particularly at Headingley Rugby Stadium and Elland Road.
“There’ll be a lad my age singing it, as well as a teenager, a father in his late forties or early fifties, and a grandfather in his seventies saying, ‘I remember when this came out’.
“Sweet Caroline was a song that was played at weddings, baptisms, funerals, and birthdays in working men’s clubs throughout Leeds. So, fathers, grandfathers, mothers, grandmothers, and uncles all know the songs.
“It gradually being employed at other boxing shows. Before you knew it, it was being used at Wembley Stadium when (former heavyweight champion) Anthony Joshua faced off. It became a boxing anthem, which subsequently spread to football.
Cricket joined the party with England’s World Cup victory at Lord’s in 2019, but it took a few years for Sweet Caroline to break into the football mainstream at the delayed Euro 2020.
Tony Perry, Wembley Stadium’s resident DJ, deserves credit for assisting supporters. The song was not included in England’s first three group games playlist, which had to be authorized by UEFA ahead of time.
However, Perry sensed that something was missing. So, before the last-16 match against Germany, he went to a karaoke classic that reached at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 list in the United States and No. 8 on the UK singles chart when it was first released in 1969.
His assumption proved correct. Sweet Caroline was a hit not only before kick-off, with both sets of fans singing along, but also after England’s 2-0 victory. Perry’s choice of a song that screams “so good, so good…” instead of the planned Vindaloo by Fat Les after the post-match rendition of Three Lions, which was still the designated and UEFA-sanctioned victory song for England at the time, was a masterstroke.
A new England anthem had been born, with even the manager lending his passionate support. “You can’t beat a bit of Sweet Caroline,” Southgate stated in a post-match interview. “That’s a belter.”
Supporters chose a familiar melody for the second tournament in a row. Fans reworked girl duo Atomic Kitten’s 2001 hit track Whole Again for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, changing the chorus to “Southgate you’re the one, You still turn me on, Football’s coming home again”.
Fans inside the stadium sang this dedication to Southgate again on Sunday evening, along with the Beatles’ Hey Jude in honor of England’s goalscorer. The newest addition to the England supporters’ playlist, a remix of Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing in the Dark, has also been heard multiple times throughout the tournament.
“A fire cannot be started without a spark…” “Phil Foden is on fire; he’ll knock the Germans out of the park,” they sung to the tune of the 1984 song.
If Manchester City striker Foden’s form improves after a sluggish start, could Springsteen overtake Diamond as the tournament progresses?
“Sweet Caroline has a bit of a feelgood factor after Euro 2020 at Wembley,” says Chris Stuart, a long-time member of the England Supporters Travel Club. “But I prefer Springsteen’s song about Foden.” “I hope to hear more of it at the Euros.”
It will be difficult to remove what was essentially a love letter to Diamond’s wife from the top spot. Not least because the song is inherently enticing in a sporting situation.
First, there’s the music itself, which is simple enough that even individuals who are unfamiliar with the words can participate. Then there are the lyrics, which are unapologetically cheery.
“Good times, never seemed so good..” may not have been written with football in mind. However, like with many athletic anthems plagiarized from elsewhere, such as You’ll Never Walk Alone (originally from the musical Carousel before being adopted by Liverpool fans in the 1960s), the theme resonates with fans of the game.
“Sweet Caroline is a song that everyone knows, so they all join in,” says die-hard England supporter Riding. “It’s also innocuous as a song that brings together fans. Maybe that’s why opposition fans occasionally join in, as the Germans did at Wembley.
“Every time it gets played, home or away, the whole place just erupts.”
