Chelsea Daggered Themselves: The Woke Nonesense of Stamford Bridge's New Goal Music
Blogs

Chelsea Daggered Themselves: The Woke Nonesense of Stamford Bridge's New Goal Music

Chelsea Daggered Themselves: The Woke Nonesense of Stamford Bridge's New Goal Music

Goal music has been a marmite type part of football culture for a long time now.

If done right, like that of Bayern Munich, it can provide hilarious moments and embarrassment for the opposition.

If done incorrectly however, it's cringey, unfunny, and quite frankly a little bit 'tinpot'.

Stamford Bridge is a stadium that has seen massive goals coupled with mass celebration across the years.

In fact, those celebrations have become some of the most iconic across the entire footballing world, with the banging of the metal board in the Matthew Harding Stand now recognised by many as a culturally significant part of English football.

But now the way that those important goals are celebrated has changed, and it is safe to say no one's happy.


The Curtain Lift

When Estevao stroked home a massive 90+5 winner against league leaders Liverpool to send the Blues delirious, something was different.

In fact, this was the third time that notes of the Fratelli's 2006 song 'Chelsea Dagger' had peaked above the crowd noise at Stamford Bridge, but it was by far the most unflattering.

Usually, this would be a massive moment, plastered all over social media because of the passionate celebrations and magnitude of the goal, but instead all anybody could talk about, including the Chelsea fans, was the unnatural feel around the celebration created by the newly implemented goal music.

It felt like the moment had been tarnished, and its emotion diluted, by what can only be described as an attempt to Americanise Chelsea Football Club.


Todd Boehly's American Dream

Since Boehly came to the Premier League, he hasn't exactly done things by the book and has found controversy in every decision.

This is just the latest, but given that he is American, there is room to forgive him for his possible oversight.

Goal music is a very common commodity in North America, with a variety of different sports deploying it, with the aim of enhancing atmosphere.

In fact, the Chicago Blackhawks, who play in the National Hockey League, actually use Chelsea Dagger themselves when they score.

But football fans, especially English ones, are very protective over their club culture and the values they hold around their club.

So it was never going to be accepted with open arms by the Chelsea faithful, was it?


Can it Work?

But it isn't a completely hopeless cause to introduce goal music, as it has previously been used in the footballing space to positive effect.

The best example we can take is Bayern Munich; in fact, 17 of the 18 clubs in the Bundesliga use goal music, but it's fair to say Bayern's may be the best in all of sport.

The iconic Yabbadabadoo from the Flintstones followed by the Can-Can.

I mean, imagine getting pumped 5-0 by Bayern at the Allianz, and you hear that play over the speakers; it goes beyond humiliation.

There are also a select few English clubs who do use goal music, such as QPR in the Championship, who play the 'Papa's got a brand new Pigbag' instrumental when they score at Loftus Road, followed by shouts of 'Hoops'.

So there are examples of it working, but if we are being honest, those are few and far between and are outweighed by a lot more failures.


The Issue at Chelsea

The issue at Chelsea stems from the fact that they actually do have an atmosphere problem. In fact, that statement is backed up by members of Chelsea's own supporters' group too.

And it is an issue which the club has been trying to fix, in unison with the supporters' group, for a little while now, with this goal music being their latest attempt.

But it just doesn't feel like the decision from the club's hierarchy matches the feelings of the fans, which is the main sticking point of the change.

There has been a petition already created to remove the goal music, which is gaining copious amounts of signatures already, and really shows just how unhappy the hardcore fans are about it.

There is a consensus among fans that they are pleased to see steps being made, past and present, to continue moving the club in the right direction by Chelsea's hierarchy, a sentiment explored by comments from the fan group.

And even though this specific attempt hasn't been anywhere near a success – in fact the exact opposite – it at least shows initiative.

Football fans are always going to be rooted in tradition and the adhered-to culture they have known and loved.

Premier League fans pride themselves on having the best natural atmospheres in the world, so understandably, bringing in something with the aim of artificially enhancing that is going to cause bruised egos and adverse reactions.

But it goes deeper than that.

If we, as fans, start allowing performative things such as goal music into our long-standing culture, it opens the door for more infiltration.

Think half-time shows, firework displays, and even moving games to other countries, like what we have seen in La Liga recently.

Allowing such trivial enterprises into what we already have sets a precedent, one that would see English football is desperate to fit in, become modernised, and steer away from deep-rooted traditions.

And look, maybe it isn't that serious, but 'utter woke nonsense' is a thing for a reason, so do we really want to take that chance?

Benji Kosartiyer
Journalist

Matty Connelly

Content Writer

Videos
See more
Argentina's Massive Talent Pool | Off The Bar Podcast Episode 4 ft. Nacho Z
Seb & Colin Welcomes their first guest ‪@soynachoz‬ where they chat all things South American Football | Off the Bar Podcast Episod
Gyokeres Already a Failure? | Off The Bar Podcast Episode 3
Is Gyokeres already a flop? 🤔 VAR in the Championship & the West Ham Situation | Off The Bar with Colin & Seb Episode 3
Olise to win the next Ballon D'or | Off The Bar Podcast Episode 2
Did Dembele Deserve the Ballon D'or? 🏆 Olise the next winner? & players mental health! | Off The Bar with Colin & Seb Episode 2

Join our newsletter

Become a part of our community and never miss an update from Football Park.