Who started seven nation army

User Blog Post By Doug Funnie -30 January 2012
29 Comments

I had a debate the other night with one of my friends on which school started the seven nation army chant. He said PSU, I said OSU. I was in B deck in the south stands when OSU played the night game vs USC. The score board operator played it once and the student section got nuts. Then later in the game students started chanting it until it got so loud the score board operator put the song back on. The next week when OSU played Toledo in Cleveland Browns stadium TBDBITL played seven nation army, and the rest is history. I always thought OSU started one of the more popular recent game day chants, if I am wrong thats fine, I just want to know if anyone has any info on who started this chant?

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cplunk on 30 Jan 2012 - 2:00pm #

European soccer team Club Brugge, according to Deadspin

http://deadspin.com/5875933/how-the-song-seven-nation-army-conquered-the...

Jim Marshall on 30 Jan 2012 - 2:04pm #

Started in Europe during football matches.. As all good chants do...

BED Staff on 31 Jan 2012 - 11:55am #

Started in Europe during ~~football~~ soccer matches.. As all good chants do...

/Fixed.

The Ohio State University, College of Arts & Sciences, Class of 2006
The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, Class of 2009

Doug Funnie on 30 Jan 2012 - 2:08pm #

Thanks guys I guess my friend and I were both wrong. Those European fans sure get rowdy

cplunk on 30 Jan 2012 - 2:14pm #

If you ever get the chance to go to a match over there, do it! Don't wear any jersey or the colors of either team- just show up, tell the folks around you that you are a dumb American who doesn't know crap about soccer but wants to learn, and buy the first round for everyone in the seats around you. You'll have a blast with all the cheers and the game. Doesn't even matter if you like soccer or even know who ends up winning.

DJ on 30 Jan 2012 - 2:19pm #

Hoping my passport comes thru here soon so I can go to the UK for 2 weeks in March. Hoping to catch Chelsea vs. Napoli in Champion's League action, as well as Bolton @ Villa and the Villa @ the Arsenal. You could say I'm a little excited. I will probably wear my Villa shirt to Stamford Bridge. (That, or at least my Tim Couch Browns jersey.) If somebody wants to fight me over my clothes, then I guess I'll deal with it when I get there.

If nothing else: Marionaire.

William on 30 Jan 2012 - 3:24pm #

Awesome. Would love to see Villa @Arsenal.

BucksfanXC on 30 Jan 2012 - 3:19pm #

I went to see Fulham v Aston Villa at Craven's Cottage in 05. They ask you your address when you buy tickets and we told them we were from America so they just wrote "Americans" on that spot on the tickets and seated us in the "Neutral" stands. We were surrounded by the more tame of the away crowd basically. So we chatted it up with some old dudes, who were nice enough until the end of the game when the only American on the field, my favorite and the reason I chose to follow Fulham, Brian McBride, had scored two goals. The old dudes were Villa fans and they weren't happy that we cheered for Fulham goals.

I was amazed by the age of the stadium, the turnstyles were so narrow most NFL fans wouldn't even fit. There were cops everywhere and they were mounted for crowd controll after the game. The subway ride afterwards is where I learned more about futbol than from any other source. The highlight of the night, besides the American stealing the show, was the 8yr old in front of us cussing out the old dude Aston Villa fans after each goal.

“Any time you give a man something he doesn't earn, you cheapen him. Our kids earn what they get, and that includes respect.” - Woody

Doug Funnie on 30 Jan 2012 - 2:21pm #

Attending a soccer game overseas is on the bucket list, as well as seeing OSU play on the road in every big ten stadium

JakeBuckeye on 30 Jan 2012 - 2:26pm #

Euro soccer team. Penn State got it from them. We got it from Penn State. Now everyone does it.

October 20th: National Kenneth Guiton Day

Bucksfan on 30 Jan 2012 - 2:42pm #

According to the 11W Dubcasters Luke and Johnny, it most certainly started on this side of the Atlantic with Penn State. It is something that would be best for Ohio State to try to phase out. Anything associated with Penn State football needs go bye-bye for a while. Every time I hear that f'ing chant I think of their white-outs. It has no place in the Horseshoe as far as I'm concerned.

Johnny Staff on 30 Jan 2012 - 3:29pm #

preeetttyyy sure luke mentioned it started in europe, although i think luke got the actual location incorrect

Bucksfan on 31 Jan 2012 - 12:58pm #

Yeah, I meant regarding where it started State-side.

Johnny Staff on 31 Jan 2012 - 5:44pm #

oh then yeah, PSU did it first

popeurban on 31 Jan 2012 - 10:14pm #

Totally PSU. I remember being so envious that they did it.

rampageripster on 30 Jan 2012 - 7:07pm #

I don't get this attitude... at all. It's a cheer, pretty much everyone in the world does it, it gets the stadium on their feet and loud, and it seems to have been embraced by the teams. If you don't like it, then don't do it.

It may have "started" in the college football world as a stadium wide cheer at PSU, but the song had been played as arena pump up music by many pro teams for longer. It is a staple in most marching bands' repitoire. Now that EVERYONE is doing it, I think it will become like the "Hey" song, a stadium anthem that peaked at one time to be repalced by something different.

So quit your hum-bugging and just be happy that they are cheering.

Cause I couldn't go for three

awwwwwwop on 30 Jan 2012 - 3:53pm #

My high school was doing it in 2004 so I think who started it is kind of a silly thing anyway. I have always associated PSU with Zombie Nation. Like when the OSU scoreboard operator played it after we lost the ball on 4th down this year. Really stupid because it got their fans and players excited.

"Who cares? Go Bucks." - Aaron Untch

ShowThemOhiosHere on 30 Jan 2012 - 4:05pm #

I've heard the PSU band play the song when they're on offense, but I've never seen their fans really jump and sing to it (other than that one night in front of Joe Pa's house or whatever, but that was very recent). It's kind of like when Wishagain fans say that "We did Script Ohio first!" Yes, you may have done a block formation that looked like the word Ohio in cursive writing, but we took what was just a simple formation and turned it into our own great tradition. It would be 5% as notable as it is today if we just went with Wishagain's simple block formation of it. It's kind of like this with the song - we do our own thing with it, PSU does their own thing with it. Now everyone seems to be doing that song - Wishagain (go figure, if you can't beat 'em more than once a decade, join 'em, right?), an increasing number of other schools, and now even some pro teams are playing that song during their games (Ravens, heard an ORGAN VERSION OF IT! Either hockey or basketball game, I forget).

I don't think we should stop it. Everyone's doing it - and like what's said above - it was started in European soccer. And probably before that, White Stripes concerts! Penn State didn't invent it.

Class of 2010.

rampageripster on 30 Jan 2012 - 7:08pm #

No, PSU did it A LOT... it got replaced by "Zombie Nation"... but they still chant it a lot, though it's not their go to cheer anymore.

Cause I couldn't go for three

Riggins on 30 Jan 2012 - 11:32pm #

I'd rather have "OOOOOOOOOOO-H-I-O!" for kickoffs over 7NA anyday. And I'm still fairly young.

TheHumbleBuckeye on 1 Feb 2012 - 2:27pm #

^So much this.... we have our own traditions. We don't need to be copying other people's pseudo-traditions. I like when there's no music leading up to kickoff (save for maybe one of the big drum guys steadily beating the big drum as the players line up for the kick). I think it's more intimidating to just here deafening crowd noise and not some stupid chant with a song in the background.

awwwwwwop on 2 Feb 2012 - 10:57am #

Every game I went to starts with Seven Nation Army to pump up the players and then blends into the prekick OOOOOOO. I always thought that was a cool transition.

"Who cares? Go Bucks." - Aaron Untch

DefendOhio on 1 Feb 2012 - 3:19pm #

This chant needs to die. It's so unoriginal. Everyone does it!

GlueFingers Lavelli on 6 Feb 2012 - 11:37am #

I totally agree, and I swear I heard it first in Happy Valley.

Dustin Fox was our leading tackler as a corner.... because his guy always caught the ball.

CGroverL on 5 Feb 2012 - 3:37pm #

I know... I'm just a long haired metalhead... but if there is any song that would get a crowd hyped up it would be "Raining Blood" by Slayer. I can't see any chants coming from the song, but watching the team run out to that song would be totally sick and unbelievable. You would forget all about The White Stripes very quickly.

Go Bucks, and down with using 7NA!

"I hope they're last in everything"
Thanks, Urb!

Run_Fido_Run on 5 Feb 2012 - 5:15pm #

Playing "Raining Blood" might be a copyright violation. I think Kyle Kalis already laid claim to it as his theme song.

GlueFingers Lavelli on 6 Feb 2012 - 11:42am #

Iv'e heard Slayer played in the Horseshoe. I think they played the beginning of Bloodline. Badass guitar riffs. Real deep menacing sounding. I loved it. Of course it was during a game against Marshall though. haha I think the OSU band should start a new trend, and play Bloodline by Slayer.

Dustin Fox was our leading tackler as a corner.... because his guy always caught the ball.