Sweet Caroline, Football and the Fun Bus

Sweet Caroline, the Neil Diamond song, has been re-issued this week on iTunes following a esipsode of Glee, an American 'genre-defying new musical comedy series'.

The song has been around for decades (it was first released in September 1969) and was originally made famous in the UK by Radio Caroline.

However in recent years the song has been used by various football and other sporting clubs as well as supporters groups firstly in the US and later in the UK.

This from Wikipedia:

The song is usually sung by supporters of English football team Arsenal and Northern Ireland fans where it is heard at Windsor Park before the match, at half time and after the final whistle is blown.

“Sweet Caroline” is the official club song at Brunton Park, home of Carlisle United FC of Football League One, where it is played as the players make their entrance; it is a fan favourite in Cumbria and was chosen by fan vote. In the past two seasons it has also been often used at Hereford United away matches, which is always started by a group of fans known as the ‘Fun Bus’.

In the 2005/2006 English Football season “Sweet Caroline” was adopted by the players of Reading Football Club. For many fans of Reading FC it evokes memories of the record breaking season of 05/06 when Reading scored 106 points to walk away with the Coca Cola Championship title.

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