20 Arsenal Chants All True Fans Should Know (2024)

The Premier League is famous for its incredible atmosphere. Every ground rocks to the sound of thousands of fans singing in unison.

Some say the Emirates Stadium lacks the atmosphere of the more intimate Highbury, but anyone present at the recent derby match with Tottenham will confirm that the new stadium can be every bit as loud.

Many of the songs sung at the new ground are the same as those that reverberated around Highbury for nearly a century.

So here it is: a hymn-book to guide you through your visit to the cathedral of football that is the Emirates Stadium. I've excluded the lyrically-uninspiring mantras of "Arsenal" and "Red Army" but, those two aside, this is a fairly comprehensive list.

Take a deep breath, go to the next slide, open your lungs and join the Arsenal choir.

This iconic song celebrated the parsimonious Arsenal defence of the 1980s and early 1990s.

It's sung to the tune of the Village People's 1979 hit "Go West" and although the scoreline has become less frequent these days, the chant remains just as popular.

Arsenal's away fans follow the Gunners everywhere they go—or as this song says: "Over land and sea and Leicester."

For obvious reasons, this song is particularly popular on away trips.

It is sung to the tune of "Land of Hope and Glory," a melody originally composed by Edward Elgar and converted in to a patriotic song at the start of the 20th century.

This is more of a battle cry than a song. At its heart it features the blood-curdling lyric: "If you are a Tottenham fan, surrender or you'll die!"

This chant perfectly sums up the combative tribal nature of Premier League football.

It's breathtakingly simple yet extraordinarily catchy. This chant captures the unique joy of supporting Arsenal.

The sentiment is clear: there's no better club to be affiliated with.

Perry Groves played for Arsenal between 1986 and 1992. In that time, his remarkable work rate made him a cult hero for the fans.

This song, to the tune of The Beatles' hit "Yellow Submarine", lists Perry Groves as playing in every position from No. 1 to No. 12.

The one exception is No. 7, which still belongs to the immortal and irreplaceable Liam Brady.

"She Wore A Yellow Ribbon" is a popular old US military marching song. The original lyrics, copyrighted in 1917 by George A. Norton, go:

Arsenal have adopted the song for their own purposes, changing the lyrics to:

The song has particularly strong connotations with Arsenal's FA Cup triumphs. The ribbons referred to symbolise the ribbons famously tied on the cup every year.

Whatever their opinion of Arsenal's current manager, all Arsenal fans will surely attest that there is indeed "only one Arsene Wenger."

Pop down to the Emirates Stadium and you can hear 60,000 of them doing so in unison.

"Good Old Arsenal" was actually released as a single in 1971, reaching No. 16 in the UK singles chart.The lyrics were penned by former footballer, manager and broadcaster Jimmy Hill.

The song is still occasionally heard reverberating around the Emirates.

This chant was originally sung by opposition fans to taunt the turgid Arsenal sides of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

However, under Arsene Wenger, it was reclaimed by Arsenal supporters as an ironic celebration of their reinvigorated flowing football.

Arsenal might not be as successful as they once were, but they remain anything but boring.

This is undoubtedly one of the most popular songs among the Arsenal supporters.

One of the reasons for its enduring popularity is that the final line casts aspersions over the professional activities of the mother of the present Tottenham manager.

Of course, this means the chant has to be changed every time Spurs appoint a new coach. At the moment the Arsenal fans are struggling to cope with the unusual scansion of Andre Villas-Boas' name, but I'm sure they'll soon get the hang of it.

This song was born at Highbury, when the North Bank and Clock End stands would sing in furious opposition to each other.

It can still occasionally be heard at the Emirates Stadium. Fans belt it out to remember the great times they had at the famous old stadium and honour those they stood among on the terraces.

David Rocastle came through the youth system at Arsenal and played more than 200 games for the club. He had a fantastic relationship with the Arsenal fans, who were devastated when he was sold to Leeds in 1992.

However, the real tragedy would occur when Rocastle passed away in March 2001 shortly after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkins' Lymphoma.

Arsenal fans still sing his name with pride and affection. Last season, during a match against Reading, Gunners supporters chanted non-stop for Rocastle for the first 10 minutes of the fixture, marking the 12-year anniversary of his death.

This song, like many Arsenal chants, has been created purely to mock the Gunners' neighbours and rivals, Tottenham Hotspur. That's probably why it's so popular.

I'm afraid the lyrics are almost unprintable, but the brave among you can watch the video above.

When a Sylvain Wiltord goal helped Arsenal win the title at Old Trafford in 2002, Arsenal fans were understandably elated.

They immortalised the moment in this song, which is sung with particular gusto whenever Arsenal return to Manchester. Gunners fans are determined not to let Manchester United forget their moment of glory at the supposed "Theatre of Dreams."

For Arsenal, only one thing could top winning the league at Old Trafford: claiming the title at the home of their detested rivals, Tottenham Hotspur.

Incredibly, that's exactly what Arsenal did just two years later in 2004.

This chant will be around for a while yet. Arsenal fans are unlikely to let Spurs supporters forget their triumph in a hurry.

Many fans sing a song with lyrics to this effect.

However, when Arsene Wenger created the incredible "Invincibles" side of 2003-04, Arsenal fans could be forgiven for suggesting that they really were watching "the greatest team the world has ever seen."

It's important to include a few chants about specific players in this list.

This re-purposed version of "Winter Wonderland" is currently sung to celebrate Arsenal's midfield tyro Jack Wilshere. However, the song is a particular honour for Wilshere, as it was previously sung about Dutch legend Dennis Bergkamp.

If Wilshere can emulate Bergkamp's achievements on the field, then he will have had a quite remarkable career.

Olivier Giroud is well on his way to becoming an Arsenal hero. His winning goal in the recent North London derby was the latest step on that arduous path.

He already has a great chant, sung regularly with gusto to the tune of The Beatles' "Hey Jude". Recent evidence suggests his performances are now matching up to the popularity of his song.

Arsenal fans hold a great deal of affection for Steve Bould—despite his distinct lack of hair.

They're fond of telling him so in musical form. Bould's recent appointment as assistant manager has seen this chant get a new lease of life around the Emirates Stadium.

When Theo Walcott arrived at Arsenal in 2006, his status as an Englishman made him a rare commodity.

The Arsenal fans chose to recognise that with this chant based on Sting's "Englishman in New York."

These days, Walcott is surrounded by the likes of Jack Wilshere, Carl Jenkinson and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but the chant remains as popular as ever.