When Arsenal faces Paris Saint-Germain in Saturday’s Champions League final, the rivalry will extend to the singing in the stands.
Thousands of opposing fans will try drowning out their rivals’ anthem with their own at Budapest’s Puskás Aréna stadium.
Those from defending champion PSG will passionately bellow “Tous ensemble on chantera” (All together we will sing) invented by the club’s Ultras fans.
Arsenal fans will sing the catchy chorus taken from “The Angel (North London Forever)” written by singer and Arsenal fan Louis Dunford in 2022.
It’s a homage to the Islington area of north London where he grew up, close to Arsenal’s current and past stadiums: Highbury and The Emirates. It was soon adopted by sections of the Arsenal crowd and then kept growing in popularity.
“This song I wrote in my bedroom as a little love letter to my home town,” Dunford told spectators during a concert. “I never dreamed I’d hear it sung at every home game.”
With some London rhyming slang — known as Cockney — and gritty-but-witty vocabulary, it tells of local pubs, faces old and new, rough council estates with roguish characters, single mothers, and people in trouble with the law.
“The manor might be changing, but the people still remain,” Dunford sings, adding. “It’s in the roots that we inherit when a generation ends, it’s in the ruins of your youth and the faces of your past.”
The uplifting chorus, bellowed out by Arsenal fans, goes like this:
“North London forever,
“Whatever the weather,
“The streets are our own.
“And my heart will leave you never,
“My blood will forever,
“Run through the stone.”
Even famed actress Anne Hathaway posted a video of herself singing it which went viral on Instagram.
Two weeks ago, Arsenal fans sang it to celebrate a first Premier League title since 2004, with Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta describing it as an “emotional explosion” after years of near misses.
By comparison, PSG’s Ligue 1 title was its fifth straight and record-extending 14th overall.
But up until last year PSG had never won the Champions League, and at one stage it seemed an impossible ambition.
Turmoil to triumph
PSG’s anthem reflects the loyalty of its fans throughout bad struggles on and off the field.
Backed up by a steady drum and sung slowly with stretched-out sentences, it goes like this:
Paris S G,
Tous ensemble on chantera (All together we will sing),
Cet amour qu’on a pour toi (This love we have for you),
Qui ne cessera jamais (Which will never end).
Après tant d’années (After so many years),
De galères et de combats (Of setbacks and struggles),
Oh pour toi Paris SG (Oh for you PSG),
On va se casser la voix (We will break our voices).
The club’s Ultras came up with it after finally being allowed back into PSG’s Parc des Princes stadium, under the new collective name of Collectif Ultras Paris (CUP).
Fans belted it out in Munich last year when PSG routed Inter Milan 5-0 to win the Champions League.
PSG coach Luis Enrique joined in with the fans this year after his side eliminated Munich following a pulsating semifinal.
Dark Days
Such upbeat scenes were a stark contrast from PSG’s past.
When Arsenal reached the Champions League final in 2006 — losing to Barcelona in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis — PSG was nowhere near Europe’s elite.
Unsuccessful on the field, PSG was also dealing with a major hooliganism problem which began in the late 1980s and saw several big fights near the Parc des Princes stadium — including against Arsenal in 1994.
A PSG fan was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer in 2006 following a home match against Hapoël Tel-Aviv in the UEFA Cup. The officer was protecting a fan of Hapoël Tel-Aviv from a threatening mob which had surrounded him.
On the field, PSG was almost relegated to the second tier in 2008, staying up with an away win on the final day. Soccer violence resulted in another death in 2010 following a violent clash, the result of a vicious feud between rival sets of PSG fans.
QSI arrives
Qatari-backed QSI bought PSG in 2011 and bankrolled billions.
But despite signing the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani, Kylian Mbappé, Neymar and Lionel Messi, PSG could not win the Champions League.
Until Enrique took charge in 2023.
Out went Neymar and Mbappé and a new team was built around selflessness and teamwork. Enrique incorporated young players like Désiré Doué, re-motivated Ousmane Dembélé, last year’s Ballon d’Or winner, and made a game-changing decision when he signed Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
Spanish connection
Spaniards Enrique and Arteta were excellent midfielders.
Enrique, 56, stood out with Real Madrid and Barcelona. Arteta, 44, played at PSG from 2000-02 and Arsenal from 2011-16.
If Arteta gets one over on his countryman and leads Arsenal to its first Champions League title, the singing in north London will be deafening.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
