You'll never sing alone - Book (Gunnar Leue)

When football stadiums remained empty during the pandemic, many television viewers also stopped tuning in. Without the response from the stands – the chants, the murmuring and cheering – the action on the pitch suddenly lost its appeal. Never was it more obvious that the very special sound is an essential part of the fascination of this sport. Fan chants and professionally produced anthems not only give the game emotional depth and shape football culture, they were also crucial for the transformation of the sport into an entertainment product. So it's no exaggeration to say: the rise of football to become the most popular pastime in the world would have been unthinkable without the music that surrounds it.

Gunnar Leue has experienced the sound of football live as a fan in stadiums and described it as a journalist and author. With "You'll Never Sing Alone", he presents a comprehensive account of the topic in all its facets. Entertaining as well as informative, the book tells the story of football accompaniment music from the emergence of modern football in the 19th century to the present day. It looks back at the quirky and little-known beginnings of fan support, the first singing football stars, the creation of club anthems, and the development of the ultra scene into an international youth movement.

Leue repeatedly encounters the unique connection between football and pop, which shaped the singing culture in the stadiums and triggered various waves of commercialisation since the 1920s. Along this field of tension, the book explores questions that concern the core of football culture: Are stadiums important places where all milieus of a divided society come together and act jointly by singing? Or are they just further arenas of entertainment where passive consumers are entertained?