""We have a chant just for when we score," said Squadron president Meredith Bartley, of a raucous, snare drum-laced chant celebrating getting the ball into the back of the net. It's set to the nursery song "The Animals Went in Two by Two." There's a chant (with the endearing refrain "You're my favorite soccer team!") for when fans are simply having a blast. And there's one rooted in local politics."
""This season, we've started in the 51st minute a 'Free D.C.' chant," Bartley said. The chant nods to the long-standing push for D.C. home rule and statehood, and grew out of heightened tensions earlier this year, when the Trump administration took control of the district's police force and deployed National Guard troops to the city. Borrowing from the global soccer canon Spirit supporters also borrow from the global soccer canon. When the energy in the stadium dips, they'll sometimes launch into a playful chant appropriated from English Premier League crowds. "Let's pretend we scored a goal," they repeat."
Supporter groups for Washington Spirit and Gotham FC bring organized singing and chanting that shapes the NWSL finals atmosphere. The Spirit Squadron prepared a repertoire including a snare-driven scoring chant set to the nursery song "The Animals Went in Two by Two," a celebratory chant ending "You're my favorite soccer team!", and a politically charged "Free D.C." chant started in the 51st minute referencing D.C. home rule and statehood after federal interventions earlier in the year. Supporters also borrow playful chants from the English Premier League. Gotham FC fans have embraced John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads" as a regional anthem.
Read at www.npr.org
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