https://www.instagram.com/kurvenstimm... Chants accompany us football fans throughout our lives, it's not for nothing that you're already seeing the fourth part of the best chants in Germany here. But how did chants actually come about? An excerpt from 11 Freunde (https://www.11freunde.de/artikel/die-... November football in Germany means floodlights, clammy cold and sometimes fog that slowly wafts over the stands into the stadium bowl. Thick autumnal clouds also drifted into the Alte Försterei in Berlin one evening at the end of 2002, so that the second division match between Union and Eintracht Frankfurt turned into a farce. There was rumbling in the stands. No singing, clapping or whistling could be heard. Everyone was discussing the question of whether and when the referee would put an end to the opaque goings-on. Then it happened, in the almost eerie silence of Block H a throaty voice began to demand: "We want to see the team, we want to see the team, we want, we want to see the team!" The shouter had the laughs on his side and was not alone for long. Only those who delve into the subject of chants are alone and lost. Hardly any other genre offers more facets, perspectives, pitfalls and potential. A hydra quickly wraps itself around those thirsting for knowledge. But is there an essence to which all the puns, classics and silly sayings can ultimately be traced? In short: Why do you sing when you're in the stadium? At first the searcher is groping in a fog that is even thicker than in the Alte Försterei, and probably thicker than that in the stadium on Anfield Road in Liverpool that Saturday 40 years ago. But because the referee thought he could see both goals from the kick-off point, this game was not called off either. No one in the stadium really had an overview until a murmur slowly spread through the ranks after an attack by the home team. The Kop, Liverpool's famous stand behind the goal, only cheered at the top of its lungs when their own team came running back and the opposing striker carried the ball into the centre circle. The hardcore Liverpool fans were not satisfied with just the lead, however, and tens of thousands of voices began to chant into the fog: "Who scored the goal, who scored the goal?" Shortly afterwards, a small piece of magic unfolded before the spectators as the dull chant echoed back through the white wall: "Hateley scored the goal, Hateley scored the goal." "But we weren't happy with that either," Rogan Taylor remembers of that match day in the 1967/68 season. "Of course, we also wanted to know whether Tony Hateley had scored with his foot or his head. And we found out the same way." Of course, not all chants are funny (and meant to be funny). In the GDR's top league, various fan groups borrowed the song "Lady in Black" by Uriah Heep and sang the bitter lyrics: "1000 meters square, minefield and barbed wire! Do you know where I live? I live in the zone!" The fact that the song is still sung in some East German stadiums today says a lot about the state of reunification. Scotland's "Tartan Army" is considered one of the fairest and most creative fan groups. "We'll fry your pizza," they recently chanted against Italy, alluding to the elemental collision of two footballing and culinary extremes. But there is little sign of the positive vibes of the international matches in the league. On the contrary, the Scottish Premier League SPL has banned singing, at least in part, since the start of the season. Songs with a religious or political background are now taboo. Strong stuff and another blow from the politically over-correct, who have also banned cigarettes from stadiums, outsiders might think. But the new rules are part of a national initiative to eradicate so-called sectarianism. Catholics and Protestants, republicans and unionists simply can't stand each other, and football stadiums have become arenas for the verbal dissemination of conflict. The so-called Old Firm derby between Celtic and Rangers in particular is regularly the focus of attention. The song lyrics are tough, often bathing in blood or denigrating the Pope as a Nazi. Make sure you read the entire text, it really is highly recommended! In that sense: Fuck the DFB! DFB football mafia!