''The Beautiful Game'', subtitled ''The Official Album of Euro '96'', is an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

of music by

various artists A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

released in 1996 by

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

and

BMG Records Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music c ...

as the official companion album to the

UEFA Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in ...

football tournament in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The album is a mix between a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

of previously released material and a

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

of new material, featuring twenty-two different artists, providing English football or football-related songs. It reflected the then-current popularity of

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...

and

Cool Britannia Cool Britannia was a name for the period of increased pride in the culture of the United Kingdom in the mid- and late 1990s, inspired by Swinging London from 1960s pop culture. This loosely coincided with the latter years of John Major's conservat ...

. The album was co-ordinated by the

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

-based

English Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world and is responsibl ...

, a Music & Media Partnership host body. Music & Media's managing director Rick Blaskey, executive producer of music for Euro '96, stated "its clear that two cultures of music and football have never been so close. Consequently, as this country has such a rich heritage in both, it seemed right, it seemed only right to use music to celebrate England hosting Euro '96". The album was released on 20 May 1996 in the UK by

and

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations Music publishing companies * Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 ** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that was pur ...

and on 27 May in other European countries. RCA also revealed plans to release the album in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, declaring that it would "sell there purely on its content". It was a commercial success, peaking at number 10 in the

UK Compilation Chart The UK Compilation Chart is a record chart based on sales of multi artist compilation albums in the United Kingdom. It is compiled weekly by the Official Charts Company (OCC), and each week's Top 40 is published online on the official websites o ...

. Of the singles released from the album, the most successful was by far

Frank Skinner Christopher Graham Collins (born 28 January 1957), known professionally as Frank Skinner, is an English comedian, actor, presenter and writer. At the 2001 British Comedy Awards, he was named Best Comedy Entertainment Personality. His televisio ...

David Baddiel David Lionel Baddiel (; born 28 May 1964) is an English comedian, presenter, screenwriter, author and singer. He became known for his early work alongside Rob Newman in '' The Mary Whitehouse Experience'' and later for his comedy partnership w ...

and

The Lightning Seeds The Lightning Seeds (also known as Lightning Seeds) are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1989 by Ian Broudie (vocals, guitar, producer), formerly of the bands Big in Japan (band), Big in Japan, Care (band), Care, and Ori ...

' "

Three Lions Three Lions may refer to: England *The Royal Arms of England, a coat of arms symbolising England (originally England, Normandy and the Duchy of Aquitaine, historically all ruled by Richard I) *The Three Lions, the nickname of the England national fo ...

", the Official Song for the England Football Team for the tournament, which spent three weeks at number 1 in the UK Singles Chart and was certified Platinum by the

British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

. Music writer John Harris recognizes that the album arrived at the peak of "beer'n'footy culture" that was "bolted on to Britpop", saying that the album captures how the build-up to UEFA Euro 1996 "caught the imagination of the UK's musicians."

Background

In the early 1990s, a subgenre of

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

known as

emerged in the United Kingdom. Its bands were characterised by their influences of British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s and

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

from the 1980s.Harris, pg. 385. Britpop focused on bands, singing in regional British accents and making references to British places and

British culture The culture of the United Kingdom is influenced by its History of the United Kingdom, combined nations' history, its interaction with the cultures of Europe, the individual diverse cultures of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and ...

, particularly working-class culture. The movement developed as a reaction against various musical and cultural trends in the late 1980s and early 1990s, particularly the

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...

phenomenon from the United States. Britpop groups brought British alternative pop-rock into the mainstream and formed the backbone of a larger British cultural era tagged

, a period of increased pride in the

culture of the United Kingdom The culture of the United Kingdom is influenced by its History of the United Kingdom, combined nations' history, its interaction with the cultures of Europe, the individual diverse cultures of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and ...

through much of the 1990s inspired by 1960s pop culture. Meanwhile,

had been selected as the host nation to host the

football championships. The hosting of the event was contested by five bids: Austria, England, Greece, the Netherlands and Portugal. The English bid was selected by the UEFA Executive Committee at a meeting in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

on 5 May 1992. In the year preceding the decision, the

English FA The Football Association (the FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world and is responsibl ...

had dropped out of their plans to also bid for the 1998 World Cup in order to gain the support of other UEFA members who were to bid for that event. By the time of the event in 1996, in the British music scene, Britpop had not only become most popular but music and football had "never been so close", and football-themed music had become increasingly popular in Britain during the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...

. The UEFA Euro 1996 tournament itself arrived during the peak of Cool Britannia, and was seen as football "returning home" (as football was first played in England). During the tournament itself, support for England's football team was "unmissable". In the promotion and marketing for the tournament, the

contacted London-based Music & Media Partnership to co-ordinate an "official album" of the tournament, which would both support the tournament and reflect current British music. The album was co-ordinated by Music & Media Partnership for the host body, the English Football Association. Music & Media performed the same role for the organisers of the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

. Music & Media managing director and UEFA Euro 1996 executive musical producer Rick Blaskey, said "It's clear that two cultures of music and football have never been so close. Consequently, as this country has such a rich heritage in both, it seemed right, it seemed only right to use music to celebrate England hosting Euro '96". It was settled in a deal with

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

and

that they would release the album. Official tournament sponsor

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

would also sponsor the album. It would be the first official album for a UEFA tournament in history.

Content

The official CD version of ''The Beautiful Game'' features twenty-two different tracks, focusing mostly on the current

subgenre of

and

, although the album also contains songs from the related

alternative dance Alternative dance (also known as indie dance or underground dance in the United States) is a musical genre that mixes alternative rock with electronic dance music. Although largely confined to the British Isles, it has gained worldwide exposure ...

genre.

Tim Southwell Tim Southwell is the co-founder of '' loaded'' magazine, launched in April 1994. Biography Along with James Brown and Mick Bunnage, Southwell helped create the men's magazine phenomenon of the 1990s. Previously to ''loaded'', Southwell founded ...

of '' Loaded'' termed it a Britpop album. Many of the songs were recorded exclusively for the album, or were remixes created especially for the album, but the album contains some older, previously released material too, cross-licensed from other record labels. As such, it can be seen as a cross between a

and a

. The older songs on the album were not composed as football songs, but they came to be adapted as such. The selection of bands on the album was described by ''The Baggage'' as "decidedly eclectic". It was rumoured at the time that Blur and

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment Parklife ''Parklife'' is the third studio album by the English rock band Blur, released on 25 April 1994, by Food Records. After moderate sales for their previous album '' Modern Life Is Rubbish'' (1993), ''Parklife'' returned Blur to prominence in ...

" for the compilation.

New material

band

were commissioned to write the "Official Song of the

England national team Team England usually refers to the name under which athletes representing Commonwealth Games England compete. England team or Team England may refer to: *Commonwealth Games England *England national football team *England cricket team *England nat ...

Ian Broudie Ian Zachary Broudie (born 4 August 1958) is an English musician and singer-songwriter from Liverpool. After emerging from the post-punk scene in Liverpool in the late 1970s as a member of Big in Japan, Broudie went on to produce albums (somet ...

of the band wrote the music of "

", with comedians

and

- presenters of football-themed comedy show '' Fantasy Football League'' at the time - providing the lyrics. Unlike most football songs, its lyrics speak not of unbounded optimism for victory, but instead told of how, ever since the one unequivocal success of the English football team at the

1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 to 30 July 1966. England defeated West Germany 4–2 in the 1966 FI ...

, every tournament has ended in dashed hopes for England. However, the repeated failures have not dampened the feeling that England could again reach those heights ("Three Lions on a shirt,

Jules Rimet Jules Rimet (; 14 October 1873 – 16 October 1956) was a French football administrator who was the 3rd President of FIFA, serving from 1921 to 1954. He is FIFA's longest-serving president, in office for 33 years. He also served as the pres ...

still gleaming. Thirty years of hurt, never stopped me dreaming"). "Three Lions", in its completed form, is presented as the 22nd and final song on the album, listed with the subtitle "Final Version". However, the album also contains two different "versions" of the song, "Version One" and "Version Two" (sequenced as the first and twelfth tracks respectively), which are seemingly recordings (in reality

comedy skit Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...

s) of Baddiel, Skinner and Broudie trying to formulate what the song's lyrics should be when in the process of originally writing it. "Version One" features lyrics such as "Three Lions on a shirt / Just near where it says

Umbro Umbro is an English sports equipment manufacturer founded in 1924 in Wilmslow, Cheshire, and based in Manchester. They specialise in football and rugby sportswear featuring their ''Double Diamond'' logo. Umbro products are sold in over 100 c ...

/ The white one shows the dirt / The grey one not as much though," whilst "Version Two" sees them discuss writing the song in parody of

Bruce Forsyth Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was an English entertainer and television presenter whose career spanned more than 75 years. Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the Associated Te ...

after Baddiel suggests writing about the Beautiful Game, to which Skinner suggests is ''

Play Your Cards Right ''Play Your Cards Right'' (or ''Bruce Forsyth's Play Your Cards Right'') is a British television game show based on, and played similarly to, the American show ''Card Sharks''. History ''Play Your Cards Right'' broadcast on ITV from 1 Februar ...

'', with lyrics including Forsyth's catchphrases from the show "Nothing for a pair / Dollies do your dealing."

Acid jazz Acid jazz (also known as club jazz, psychedelic jazz, or groove jazz) is a music genre that combines elements of funk, soul music, soul, and hip hop music, hip hop, as well as jazz and disco. Acid jazz originated in clubs in London during the 1 ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

band

Jamiroquai Jamiroquai ( ) are an English acid jazz and funk band from London. Formed in 1992, they are fronted by vocalist Jay Kay, and were prominent in the London-based funk and acid jazz movement of the 1990s. They built on their acid jazz sound in th ...

recorded "Use the Force" for the album, which would later appear on their album ''

Travelling Without Moving ''Travelling Without Moving'' is the third studio album by English funk and acid jazz band Jamiroquai, released on 28 August 1996 in Japan, then on 9 September 1996 in the United Kingdom under Sony Soho Square. Front-man Jay Kay intended for th ...

'' (1996).

Alternative dance Alternative dance (also known as indie dance or underground dance in the United States) is a musical genre that mixes alternative rock with electronic dance music. Although largely confined to the British Isles, it has gained worldwide exposure ...

band

Black Grape Black Grape are an English rock band formed in Salford in 1993, featuring former members of Happy Mondays and Ruthless Rap Assassins. Their musical style fuses funk and electronic rock with electronic programming and samples. History Forma ...

recorded "England's Irie", a collaboration with former Clash member

Joe Strummer John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British musician. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist, and lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, formed in 1976. The Clash' ...

and comedian Keith Allen. The song was described as combining squelchy acid-house synths, Britpop riffs and

baggy Baggy is a British alternative dance genre popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and generally associated with the Northern UK's Madchester scene. The style saw alternative rock bands draw influence from psychedelia as well as dance music ...

beats with comically nonsensical lyrics ("my wife’s lactating and I’m spectating"), vocodered chants and sampled commentary. Bristolian

trip hop Trip hop is a musical genre that has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound. The style emerged as a more experimental music, experimental var ...

act

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol, England, by Robert Del Naja, Robert "3D" Del Naja, Daddy G, Grant "Daddy G" Marshall, Tricky (musician), Adrian "Tricky" Thaws and Andrew Vowles, Andrew "Mushroom" ...

recorded "Eurochild Ninety 6", based upon the song "Eurochild" from their album ''

Protection Protection is any measure taken to guard something against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although ...

'' (1994). It features slow and heavy beats, a "late-night urban sleaze with a hint of menace" vibe, and was described as "the sound is that of Bristol’s esteemed purveyors of smoky dope beats." Original demos for the track included swirling chants and crowd noises, recorded by group member

Robert Del Naja Robert Del Naja (; born 21 January 1965), also known as 3D, is a British artist, musician, singer and songwriter. He emerged as a graffiti artist and member of the Bristol collective The Wild Bunch (sound system), the Wild Bunch, and later as ...

on a trip to

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

' San Paolo stadium, but they were dropped from the final version because they made it sound "too busy". The track itself was re-released as a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

to their single "

Teardrop Teardrop or Teardrops may refer to: Biology * Tears, a clear liquid secreted by the lacrimal glands in the eyes * Vastus medialis, or teardrop muscle, a muscle in the leg * Dacrocyte, or teardrop cell, that can be found in bone marrow fibrosis ...

" (1998) with the new name "Euro Zero Zero". Several older songs were given new remixes; LFO's Mark Bell created the "96"

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

New Order New Order may refer to: Politics * ''L'Ordine Nuovo'' (''The New Order''), a socialist newspaper edited by Antonio Gramsci in the early 1920s * ''New Order in East Asia'', propaganda term for Japanese-dominated East Asia announced by Japanese ...

's official England national team song from the

FIFA World Cup 1990 The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being ...

, "

World in Motion "World in Motion..." is a song by English band New Order (band), New Order (performed with the England national football team, credited as ENGLANDneworder). The song is New Order's only number-one song on the UK Singles Chart. It was produced fo ...

", whilst

The Shamen The Shamen ( ) were a Scottish psychedelic band, formed in 1985 in Aberdeen, who became a chart-topping electronic dance music act on the UK Singles Chart by the early 1990s. The founding members were Colin Angus, Derek McKenzie and Keith Mc ...

created the "On Grass Mix" of their song "Indica". Northern Uproar recorded "I Am the Cosmos" which was re-released as the B-side to their single "

Town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

", released 11 days later on 1 June 1996.

Nick Raphael Nick Raphael is a music industry executive and entrepreneur born in London, England. He is a former President of Capitol Records in the UK. Career In the early 1990s, Raphael moved to Leeds, UK and organized, managed and promoted several night ...

, working under the pseudonym Spectre, remixed his song "Covert Dub" as "Offside Dub".Liner notes. Ant Chapman of

Collapsed Lung A pneumothorax is collection of air in the pleural space between the lung and the chest wall. Symptoms typically include sudden onset of sharp, one-sided chest pain and shortness of breath. In a minority of cases, a one-way valve is formed by ...

remixed their

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

-themed song "Eat My Goal" for the compilation, renaming it "Beat My Goal (Black Cats Mix)". "Eat My Goal" itself had recently been remixed as the "Euro '96 Mix" which was featured in the then-current

UEFA Euro 1996 advertisement, and the "Black Cats Mix" is partially based on that version. Chapman would later state that the name "Black Cats" was a reference to his football team

Sunderland AFC Sunderland Association Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Formed in 187 ...

. Although Chapman considered the remix "awful", it was used for many years in the "Eat My Goal" segment on

Ant & Dec Ant & Dec are a British television presenting duo consisting of Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly from Newcastle upon Tyne. After meeting as child actors on CBBC's drama ''Byker Grove'', they performed together as pop musicians PJ & Duncan, ...

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...

children's breakfast show ''

SMTV Live ''SMTV Live'' (an abbreviation of ''Saturday Morning Television Live'', and also stylised as ''SM: LIVE'') was a British Saturday morning children's television programme, produced by Blaze Television for ITV. Operating on a similar format to ...

''. Although the majority of the artists are English, several Scottish

artists also appear on the album.

Teenage Fanclub Teenage Fanclub are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in Glasgow in 1989. The group were founded by Norman Blake (Scottish musician), Norman Blake (vocals, guitar), Raymond McGinley (vocals, lead guitar) and Gerard Love (vocals, bass), al ...

wrote and recorded "Kickabout", based around the simple refrain of "hey everybody". The song later appeared as the B-side to their 1997 single "Ain't That Enough". An unlicensed cover version of the song was used in an

Aldi Aldi (German pronunciation: ), stylised as ALDI, is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 12,000 stores in 18 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and ...

advertisement in 2015 without having granted permission from the band.

Primal Scream Primal Scream are a Scottish rock music, rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie (vocals) and Jim Beattie (musician), Jim Beattie (guitar). The band's current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes (guitar), Simon ...

feature with an instrumental version of "The Big Man and The Scream Team Meet the Barmy Army Uptown". The vocal version of the song, which features

Irvine Welsh Irvine Welsh (born 27 September 1958) is a Scottish novelist and short story writer. His 1993 novel ''Trainspotting (novel), Trainspotting'' was made into a Trainspotting (film), film of the same name. He has also written plays and screenplays, ...

and On-U Sound, did not feature on the album due to its profane, critical lyrics; the band released it as a single two weeks later on 3 June.

Production

Unlike some various artist releases of new material, but similar to others, the new tracks on ''The Beautiful Game'' were recorded in separate studios with separate producers. "England's Irie" was recorded at

Real World Studios Real World Studios is a residential recording studio complex founded by Peter Gabriel and situated in the old Box Mill building in the village of Box, Wiltshire, England, near to the city of Bath. It is closely associated with the Real World R ...

Box, Wiltshire Box is a large village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Wiltshire, England, about west of Corsham and northeast of Bath, Somerset, Bath. Box also falls in the easternmost pa ...

, whilst being remixed at BS Studios,

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

."England's Irie" liner notes. American producer

Danny Saber Danny Saber (born 1966) is a musician in Los Angeles. He is an audio engineer, record producer, and remixer as well. He is a former member of Black Grape and Agent Provocateur. He plays guitar, bass, organ, and keyboards, and is a prominent Los ...

produced the track and mixed it with John X.

Older material

The album features older, previously released material unrelated to football by other contemporary alternative bands, including

Stereo MC's Stereo MC's are an English hip hop and electronic dance group that formed in Clapham, London, in 1985. They had an international top 20 hit with their single " Connected" and a UK top 20 hit with " Step It Up". After releasing eight albums for I ...

with their 1993 hit single " Step It Up", The Beautiful South's "Hooligans Don't Fall in Love" from their album ''

Miaow A meow or miaow is a cat vocalization. ''Meows'' may have diverse tones in terms of their sound, and what is heard can vary from being chattered to calls, murmurs, and whispers. Adult cats rarely meow to each other. Thus, an adult cat meowin ...

'' (1994),

Olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

's recent album track "This Time" and numerous contemporary

hit singles;

The Wannadies The Wannadies is an alternative rock band formed in 1988 in Skellefteå, northern Sweden. The band's initial line-up featured Pär Wiksten (vocals, guitar), Christina Bergmark (born 1 March 1969) (vocals), Micke Herrström (keyboards), Stefan Sc ...

' "Might Be Stars" (1995),

Supergrass Supergrass are an English rock band formed in 1993. For the majority of the band's tenure, the line-up consisted of brothers Gaz (lead vocals, guitar) and Rob Coombes (keyboards), Mick Quinn (bass, backing vocals) and Danny Goffey (drums, ...

' hit single "

Alright Alright, All Right or Allwright may refer to: Music Albums * ''Alright!'' (album), a 2007 album by Bogdan Raczynski * ''Alright'', a 2011 album by Jerry Williams * ''All Right'', a 1982 album by Himiko Kikuchi Songs * "Alright" (Cast song) * ...

" (1995), Blur's hit single "

Parklife ''Parklife'' is the third studio album by the English rock band Blur, released on 25 April 1994, by Food Records. After moderate sales for their previous album '' Modern Life Is Rubbish'' (1993), ''Parklife'' returned Blur to prominence in ...

" (1994),

The Boo Radleys The Boo Radleys are an English alternative rock band who were associated with the shoegazing and Britpop movements in the 1990s. They originally formed in Wallasey, England, in 1988, with singer/guitarist Simon "Sice" Rowbottom, guitarist/songwr ...

' "Skywalker" (1996),

Pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit * Pulp (band), an English rock band Engineering * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture ...

's hit single " Disco 2000" (1995) and The Gyres' "Break" (1996). Although not a football song and only released in as late as 1994, "Parklife" had been adopted as a

football chant A football chant or terrace chant is a form of vocalisation performed by supporters of association football, typically during football matches. Football chanting is an expression of collective identity, most often used by fans to express their ...

by football fans by 1996, and as such has featured on other football-related compilation albums, and even featured in

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

's critically acclaimed football-based 1997 television advertisement ''Parklife'', ranked the 14th best advert of all time by

in 2005, and as the 15th best by

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

in 2000. ''The Baggage'' opined that the familiar Britpop hits appear alongside the dance music on the album because "the cool dance stuff isn't exactly your typical football sing-a-long fair."

Release

In the UK, ''The Beautiful Game'' was released on 20 May 1996 by RCA and BMG. On 27 May, the album was released by RCA in the other competing countries of the UEFA cup;

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

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Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and

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. RCA also revealed plans to release the album in

, declaring that it would "sell there purely on its content". The album was sponsored by

, who also sponsored the tournament itself, and the name of the album was taken from Coca-Cola's tie-in campaign for the tournament, featuring the slogan "The beautiful game." In the UK, it was issued in three different formats; CD, cassette and a limited edition

picture disc Picture discs are gramophone record, gramophone (phonograph) records that show images on their playing surface, rather than being of plain black or colored vinyl. Collectors traditionally reserve the term picture disc for records with graphics ...

LP featuring only twelve tracks. One side of the LP, also the face of the actual CD disc, features a vintage football with the names of the artists on the albums handwritten on it. The back cover featured the track listing split into two sections, resembling a football line-ups diagram, with the first eleven tracks being represented as blue shirted players, and the next eleven tracks represented as orange shirted players. In addition to the twenty-two track version, an abridged version featuring only sixteen of the songs was concurrently released. The album was a commercial success; it had initially debuted at number 11 in the

, but peaked at number 10 the following week. It spent six weeks on the chart in total, and was RCA's fourth and penultimate compilation to enter the chart. Numerous campaigns were launched to promote the album. Coca-Cola, in association with RCA and BMG, released a limited edition 3" mini-CD, also titled ''The Beautiful Game'', which was only available through collecting ring-pulls off special cans of Coca-Cola. The CD features five different songs from artists on the album; "Alright" and "This Time" from the album re-appear, whilst a different song by

(" Wake Up Boo!") and two exclusive remixes of older

and

songs also appear. Massive Attack featured on the front cover of the match-day programme for the

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...

game on 8 April 1996 after appearing in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

with members of Blur and

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

to promote the album.

from the group was interviewed about the album by John Mitchell for ''

Total Football Total Football () is a tactical system in association football in which any outfield player can take over the role of any other player in a team. A player who moves out of his position is replaced by another from his team, thus retaining the ...

''. The album also found some attention in the United States after a feature on the album written by John Crouch appeared in ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine on 8 June 1996, and

praised the album in popular men's lifestyle magazine '' Loaded''.''The Beautiful Game'' liner notes. Several of the songs on the album were released as singles, each of them released by the respective artist's record label rather than 'RCA or BMG. "

" was released as a single by

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

in the UK on 20 May 1996, the same day as the album. It was a huge commercial success, reaching number 1 in the UK Singles Chart for three weeks. It was later certified Platinum by the

for sales over 600,000. The single was subtitled "The Official Song of the England Football Team". "England's Irie" was released as a single by Radioactive Records in the UK on 14 June, and reached number 6 in the UK Singles Chart, and number 1 on the

UK Indie Singles Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the r ...

. Furthermore, the "Euro '96" mix of "Eat My Goal", which does not feature on the album (with the related Black Cats Mix taking its place) was released as a

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

with "London Tonight" (the lead single from Collapsed Lung's ''Cooler'' album) by

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

, reaching number 31 in the UK Singles Chart, whilst the previously unreleased lyrical version of "The Big Man and the Scream Team Meet the Barmy Army Uptown" was released as a limited edition single on

Creation Records Creation Records Ltd. was a British independent record label founded in 1983 by Alan McGee, Dick Green, and Joe Foster. Its name came from the 1960s band The Creation, whom McGee greatly admired. The label ceased operations in 1999, although ...

on 3 June 1996, reaching number 17 in the UK Singles Chart.

Simply Red Simply Red are an English soul music, soul and pop band formed in Manchester in 1985. Band leader, singer and songwriter Mick Hucknall was the only original member left by the time Simply Red initially disbanded in 2010. They have released thir ...

's " We're in This Together" was promoted as the "official theme song" of the tournament, despite not featuring on the album. Many confuse "Three Lions" to be the official song of the tournament, but is actually the official song of the England team's participation in the tournament, whilst "We're in This Together" was written to accompany the entire tournament and each participating team. "We're in This Together" was part of the same Music & Media campaign as ''The Beautiful Game'' to "use music to celebrate England hosting Euro '96". It was released as a single on 10 June 1996 and reached number 11 in the UK Singles Chart. On 10 June 1996, rival label

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

released their own football-themed various artists compilation, ''The Best Footie Anthems in the World...Ever!'', part of their '' The Best...Album in the World...Ever!'' compilation series. Featuring twenty-six different football related songs, including two songs that appear on ''The Beautiful Game'' ("Three Lions" and "Parklife"), it was ultimately more successful than ''The Beautiful Game'', reaching number 5 in the UK Compilation Chart, despite being released three weeks after it. A follow-album to the Virgin compilation was released in 1998. Two other unofficial compilations were released at the time of UEFA Euro 1996;

Cherry Red Records Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything but the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as w ...

's ''England's Glory: England Squads & Supporters 1966–1966'', which featured 27 official England national team songs from the previous 30 years, and Retro Record's ''Jeff Astle and the 1970 England World Cup Squad Sing!'', originally issued in 1970 as the ''World Beaters'' LP.

Legacy

The album was greeted with praise from music buyers. ''The Baggage'' published a mixed review of the album that nonetheless said the album contained "some original gems", singling out "England's Irie" as the best song.

of '' Loaded'' also praised the album in a piece included in the album's liner notes. Although the album went out of print after the tournament had finished, music on the album was made available elsewhere. "Kickabout" and "Eurochild Ninety 6", for example, were made available as

B-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

to Teenage Fanclub and Massive Attack singles released in 1997 and 1998. During the

FIFA World Cup 1998 The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

, Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightning Seeds re-recorded "Three Lions" with several lyrical changes, becoming " 3 Lions '98", which reached number 1 in the UK Singles Charts for two weeks. For the

FIFA World Cup 2010 The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. The bidding process for hosting the tournament finals was open only to ...

, a group named The Squad, made up of Baddiel, Skinner, Broudie and numerous other musicians, recorded another version entitled " Three Lions 2010", which released in 2010 as the lead single from the compilation album '' England: The Album 2010''. This version reached number 21 in the UK Singles Chart. Also in 1998, the "Euro '96 Mix" of "Eat My Goal" was re-released as a single with all previously released remixes of the song, including the "Black Cats Mix", as B-sides, reaching number 18 in the UK Singles Chart. Mark Chapman of Collapsed Lung was against this re-release, calling it a "blatant cash-in" by their former label Deceptive Records. As such, the band refused to play the song on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

''. In his 2003 book ''The Last Party: Britpop, Blair and the Demise of English Rock'', writer John Harris recognizes that the album arrived at the peak of "beer'n'footy culture" that was "bolted on to Britpop", saying that "with the beer'n'footy culture peddled by '' Loaded'' magazine - and bolted on to Britpop - at its absolute peak, it was hardly surprising that the build-up to the championships caught the imagination of the UK's musicians."''The Last Party: Britpop, Blair and the Demise of English Rock'', John Harris (2003), p. 302 He considered ''The Beautiful Game'' to be a "commemorative compilation album", with "England's Irie" being "far and away the best" song on the album, saying that the song had set out "to sound a note of cheerleading oomph, but embodying the giggy absurdism that comes with heavy marijuana smoking". Later on in the book, he says the song was also the "most noteworthy contribution", an "invigoratingly silly" song that "tries to be a football song, but can't help dropping the inevitable drug references." At the end of 1996, "Three Lions" was ranked in several best "Singles of the Year" lists; ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' placed it at number 39, ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' at number 44 whilst German magazine '' Spex'' ranked it at number 16. In 2003, '' Q'' featured it in its list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever", and in its list of "1010 Songs You Must Own" in 2004. ''Sabotage Times'' included "England's Irie" in its 2012 list of "7 Great Football Songs You May Not Have Heard". In 2016, a humorous poll from ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' listing 10 "alternative suggestions" for England's national anthem revealed votes for "England's Irie". ''The Beautiful Game'' was not the only UEFA Euro cup album, as its success inspired the release of '' Euro 2000: The Official Album'' to coincide with

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

, released by

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...

. The only subsequent UEFA Euro cup has had an accompanying compilation was

UEFA Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football competition contested by the List of men's national associatio ...

, with its official album ''

Vive O 2004! The ''Vive O 2004!'' is an album with various artists, released on June 14, 2004 as the official music album for UEFA Euro 2004 in Portugal. Track listing #" All Together Now" – The Farm #"Beautiful Day" – U2 #"You're So Pretty" – Charla ...

''. In 2002, Universal Music also released a compilation titled ''The Beautiful Game'', coinciding with the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

Track listing

and

– "

" (Version One) – 1:58 #

– "Use the Force" – 3:55 #

featuring

and Keith Allen – "England's Irie" – 4:45 #

– "Kickabout" – 3:38 #

– "Eurochild Ninety 6" – 4:22 #

– " Step It Up" – 3:56 #

–

96" (Remix) – 4:56 #

– "The Big Man and the Scream Team Meet the Barmy Army Uptown" (Instrumental) – 4:55 #

– "Might Be Stars" – 3:17 #

– "

" – 2:59 # Northern Uproar – "I Am the Cosmos" – 3:17 #David Baddiel and Frank Skinner – "Three Lions (Version Two)" – 1:02 #

The Beautiful South The Beautiful South were an English pop rock group formed in 1988 by Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway, two former members of the Kingston upon Hull, Hull group the Housemartins, both of whom performed lead and backing vocals. Other members stayin ...

– "Hooligans Don't Fall In Love" – 4:42 # Blur – "

" – 3:04 #

– "Skywalker" – 2:31 #

– "Indica" (On Grass Mix) – 4:59 #

– " Disco 2000" – 4:32 #

Spectre Spectre, specter or the spectre may refer to: Religion and spirituality * Vision (spirituality) * Apparitional experience * Ghost Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Spectre'' (1977 film), a made-for-television film produced and writt ...

– "Offside Dub" – 2:59 #

– "Beat My Goal" (Black Cats Mix) – 2:27 #The Gyres – "Break" – 3:02 #

– "This Time" – 3:27 #Baddiel, Skinner and

– "Three Lions" (Final Version) – 3:48

Chart positions

Album

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beautiful Game (compilation album) 1996 compilation albums UEFA Euro 1996 1996 albums RCA Records compilation albums Bertelsmann Music Group compilation albums Alternative rock compilation albums Britpop compilation albums Indie rock compilation albums Alternative dance compilation albums Association football songs and chants Coca-Cola England national football team songs England at UEFA Euro 1996 UEFA European Championship albums

Background

Content

New material

Production

Older material

Release

Legacy

Track listing

Chart positions

Album

Singles

See also

References