Hymns of the beautiful game: How football’s soundtrack has evolved since the 00s

Picture this: you’re on the way to a footy match in the early 2000s. This is the Coca-Cola era of the EFL, you can smell the thick must of Pukka Pies and pints around the ground. A half-time Mars bar awaits, and what’s that on the speakers? A bit of Kasabian, perchance? Some Stone Roses or Oasis probably blares out at some point too.

At this point in time, the sound of football is distinctively for the lads. This is, after all, not a far stretch from the 90s and Britpop mania, a period well-documented for an increased sense of machismo in British culture. What the grounds and wider football culture represented musically at this point in time was the plethora of new bands popping up all across the UK. After all, indie music was set to have a huge impact over the 00s, and football was more than happy to contribute to the UK’s band culture.

Take Soccer AM for example, which had been on TV screens since the mid-90s. It was still a cultural force in the early 00s, and wasn’t the programme for serious footy debate, it was an entertainment show. Filled with various skits, it not only tackled the sport itself but the culture around it, including music and fashion. Bagging guests such as Noel Gallagher, The Cribs and Carl Barat, the show has always served as a time capsule of the new millennium’s musical zeitgeist. 

There were, of course, the early FIFA soundtracks too, which often reflected what you’d hear on a matchday at the time. FIFA 2004 is a great example, it features Ceasers’ ‘Jerk It Out’, The Jam’s ‘Town Called Malice’, Kasabian’s ‘L.S.F.’ and more in what is one of the series’ most nostalgic soundtracks (and notably wasn’t entirely consigned to indie/rock). 

Having The Jam in there feels like a nod to the Casuals, the football subculture which started in the North West in the late 70s and featured largely teenage fans wearing brands such as Fred Perry. The sound of the subculture, depending on location, featured classic British bands such as Echo and the Bunnymen and Joy Division. It should be noted that in football’s musical history, one of the first recorded instances of music at a football game was Liverpool fans singing ‘She Loves You’ by The Beatles, exemplifying the long history of music and football’s influence on each other.

This is all now very different to the current musical landscape; times have moved on, and so has football. Since the late ‘00s, the relationship between football and hip-hop, rap and grime has skyrocketed, with bars now featuring footballers on a regular basis. One of the earliest pioneers of grime’s love affair with the beautiful game was Skepta. As Versus notes, he was name-dropping Aaron Lennon and David Beckham in his lyrics as early as 2009 with ‘Over The Top 2’. Since then, the very iconography of football has become entwined with some of the UK scene’s most influential artists.

There was José Mourinho’s appearance in Stormzy’s ‘Mel Made Me Do It’ video. Remember Dave inviting that young fan on stage for a rendition of his track ‘Thiago Silva’ at Glastonbury? Or more recently, you might have picked up on AJ Tracey’s references to Jude Bellingham and Endrick on his single ‘Talking Stage’. This wasn’t the first time music made by predominantly black musicians became associated with football. The ‘90s saw players such as Ian Wright and Andrew Cole release pop/rap songs, and who could forget John Barnes’ association with ‘World In Motion’?

This reflects not only the changes in the sound of football, but the changing demographics too. For so long, the sport was seen as the lower/middle-class white man’s game. But the terraces aren’t the same anymore. Despite what politicians like Kemi Badenoch might tell you, towns and cities in the UK are largely multicultural, and this is reflected in the stands and the wider audience of football fans.

Another change to consider is the sport’s relationship with masculinity. Football has often been a tool to enforce traditional views of what a man should be. It’s highly unlikely that anyone who played the grassroots game hasn’t heard the phrase “man up” at some point. These types of attitudes can lead to some men bottling up their feelings, and institutions such as the Premier League have run campaigns encouraging open conversations around these issues, such as Together Against Suicide. 

Perhaps nothing exemplifies these changing attitudes than the fall of the aforementioned Soccer AM. For all its qualities in terms of exploring the wider culture around football, it fell into masculine tropes too and had a distinctly “boys club” vibe. It wasn’t until 2015 that it finally stopped its objectifying “Soccerette” feature, which saw models wear kits to a chorus of wolf whistles. The show’s influence waned massively until its final show in May of 2023, and those prime years now feel incredibly dated, indicative of a time when lad culture was still prevalent in the sport.

The move away from the more toxic traits of masculine values is also reflected in the music around the sport. Huck Magazine suggests that the changing FIFA soundtrack exemplifies this, highlighting the work of Glass Animals and their vulnerable album I F****** Love You, which provides a sense of openness that is the antithesis of typical masculinity and the tendency to just power through your emotions. The evolution of FIFA has seen the game’s iconic soundtracks go from a reflection of football’s traditional sound to a genuine tastemaker for modern youth culture. 

These days, it is far more reflective of a globalised game. Now titled EA Sports FC, the latest iteration features tracks from Young Miko, JENNIE, Amine, Barry Can’t Swim, Ed Sheeran, Kojey Radical, Sofia Kourtesis and many more. Spanning K-pop, electronic music, Latin music, pop and still some traditional indie sounds, it’s enough to give a FIFA 2004 fan a heart attack. But this is a kaleidoscopic view of contemporary music, reflecting on a wholesale change of demographic for the sport. In fact, FIFA has gone from being influenced by the terraces to being one of the main influences on stadium speakers across the country.

You’ll still find great bands in there, but it is largely made up of solo artists, a reflection of how the streaming age doesn’t cater to projects made by multiple musicians, especially those who don’t have a financial safety net to fall back on. 

The rise of women’s football can’t be discounted either. Last year, it was revealed that the number of women and girls taking up the sport in the UK had increased by 56% since 2020. There’s definitely a different atmosphere to women’s football too, reflected in the anthem ‘Call Me A Lioness’, which is all about togetherness. Made as an anthem of support before the 2023 World Cup, it featured Mel C, Wolf Alice, Rachel Chinouriri, Self Esteem and more.

The impact of the women’s game on music is still being established, but it is supported hugely already by female musicians across multiple genres and queer musicians too (although you’d be surprised at the amount of queer anthems made into chants in the men's game, think the “Will Grigg’s On Fire” Chant, an interpretation of Gala’s ‘Freed From Desire’). 

It’s fair to say that football isn’t what it was at the start of the 2000s. And that’s probably for the better. The sport was so ingrained in lad culture and toxic masculine traits, but work has been done over the past couple of decades to ensure that men feel more open, and the aggression that surrounds the sport is wielded in the right way. From the rise of the women’s game to the greater inclusion of diverse cultures into the fabric of football, all of this is reflected in the soundtrack of the game. More globalised, it is reaching more people than ever before across so many continents. 

Youth culture is essential to keeping the sport alive, but it’s also vital to note that the very culture that helped launch the bands we loved in the original FIFA soundtracks no longer exists. Hearing all these different sounds from across the globe is amazing, but let's also ensure that bands aren’t left in the dust either.

For the best gigs, club nights and festivals, search Skiddle now.

Follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Threads, Facebook, and YouTube for the latest music and events content.  

Header image credit: Fancy Crave (Unsplash)