Football grounds namechecked in songs, from Fulham to Bologna

“Which football grounds are namechecked in songs? I’ll get the ball rolling with Hillsborough in Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured by Arctic Monkeys,” writes Agatie Fan on Twitter.

Technically, as a few pedants pointed out, the Arctic Monkeys lyric refers to the suburb of Hillsborough rather than the stadium. But we’re in a good mood so we’ll allow it. And this song, too, which checks Old Trafford without actually naming it.

“There’s an obscure Herman’s Hermits song called It’s Nice to Be Out in the Morning, written by professional songwriter and future 10cc bassist Graham Gouldman,” writes Martin Crookall. “It’s like a Manchester travelogue, culminating in a verse about ‘United’s ground where the champions score/ A hundred goals and the Reds’ fans roar/ for Bobby Charlton, Best and Law’, which is close enough to make no difference as far as I’m concerned.”

We’ll be honest, when we first read this question we didn’t expect the Barenaked Ladies to provide an answer. But, as Neil Hickey points out, their 1998 megahit One Week mentions a football stadium in Canada. Not content with referencing everything from LeAnn Rimes to Chickity China, the Chinese chicken, they also pay tribute to “Birchmount Stadium, home of the Robbie ...”

Birchmount Stadium in Ontario is the venue for the annual Robbie International Tournament, which prides itself on being the world’s largest annual charitable youth soccer tournament.

James Walker writes in to remind us that Renato Dall’ara, a 2008 song by the kooky indie-pop seven-piece Los Campesinos!, is also the name of Bologna’s stadium.

“My favourite is Dopamine Clouds Over Craven Cottage by ambient-drone duo Stars of the Lid, which appears on their AndTheir Refinement Of The Decline triple