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Football and music are in many ways very similar
Both are artistic expressions which require thousands of hours of work to truly master, and both can be enjoyed and practiced by novices who only have a go when they fancy it.
As such, history has seen many crossovers between the two with varying degrees of success. Which makes Kyle Walker’s recent appearance on Training Days with Jack Whitehall all the more wonderful.
The Manchester City defender joins the comedian on stage at Britain’s Got Talent to audition in front of judges Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon, David Walliams and Amanda Fielding.
The two decide to perform ‘World In Motion’ by New Order and the 1990 England national team. And frankly, the results are amazing. The performance also made us think about our other favourite moments when football and music came together.
The list of footballers who tried their hands at music is an extensive one, so we’ve been forced to whittle it down to the best and brightest, to the few who have transcended both sport and music to make their mark on a higher plane of consciousness.
Here is that list.
Glenn Hoddle & Chris Waddle – Diamond Lights
Often derided for being a very bad song, ‘Diamond Lights’ is in fact really very good. Despite the fact that both footballers are probably not singing, they each possess a strong stage presence, as well as a nifty little dance move on stage. It also gave the world the term ‘Diamond Lights’, which no one had ever said before this song was written. Thank you Glenn and Chris.
Andy Cole – Outstanding
The first rule of writing a very good song is to make sure your name is mentioned several times in the first 43 seconds or so without you – the artist – actually saying anything. Andy Cole achieves this perfectly, and tops it off by entering the tune with a sweet line: “Tell the world my name, who’s that? Andy Cole”.
Paul Gascoigne – Fog on the Tyne
Just an all around good song. Not even by the standards of football songs. Just a brilliant song. Thank you Gazza.
Ian Wright – Do The Right Thing
Another quality song. If it was by some funky and trendy group from the 1990s we’d be sticking it on as if it were ‘Jump Around’. But no, because it’s Ian Wright we just laugh. Not me though, this is beautiful. Only negative is that “right” isn’t spelled “Wright” in the title.
Kevin Keegan – Head Over Heels In Love
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MnMskejuvc
Aside from the absolutely stellar CGI here, I’m not entirely convinced by this effort. Keegan’s perm is spectacular, obviously, but the song is just not very impressive…… until you get to the chorus and he absolutely blows you out of the park. A beautiful song. In another world he’d have won the Eurovision Song Contest with this entry.
Clint Dempsey – Don’t Tread
Okay. Let’s give Clint the benefit of the doubt here. The US international has been rapping for years, since his teenage years in fact, and is probably pretty good. He even has a rap moniker: Deuce. Unfortunately, this song – despite having his name front and centre – barely features him, and rather has a number of accompanying rappers treading on him throughout.
Watch more of Jack Whitehall: Training Days exclusively on YouTube.
