Five Reason Why England Singer Neil Diamond’s Sang “Sweet Caroline” at game …
We all know that there doesn’t need to be a reason to belt out “Sweet Caroline”at by Neil Diamond — the song is just that good — but that hasn’t stopped folks from wondering why this specific tune is played at English football (erm, soccer?) games.
After all, Neil’s an American musician, and he released the song all the way back in 1969. So why do you hear it at English matches today?
Why does England sing “Sweet Caroline” at games?
The story of how “Sweet Caroline” became a victory song in general goes back to the 1997 at Boston’s famed Fenway Park, when a stadium employee named Amy Tobey (who was in charged of the music) played the song in honor of a colleague who’d just given birth to a baby girl named Caroline.
The song would occasionally pop up again at Fenway over the next several years until it became a fixture in 2002, thanks to the new executive VP for public affairs named Dr. Charles Steinburg, who felt the song had “transformative powers,” per the Berkeley Beacon. It would go on to play before the eighth inning in every Red Sox game, ahead of the team stepping up for bat.
