As the NWSL finals kick off Saturday in San Jose, Calif., fans of the Washington Spirit and Gotham FC are bringing more than jerseys and banners — they’re bringing a matchday culture built around singing, drumming and coordinated chants.
Washington’s Spirit Squadron, one of the club’s main supporter groups, spent months preparing a repertoire they plan to unleash from the stands. “We have a chant just for when we score,” said Squadron president Meredith Bartley, describing a snare drum–backed cheer set to the nursery tune “The Animals Went in Two by Two.” The group also breaks into a celebratory chant that ends with the refrain “You’re my favorite soccer team!” and a politically tinged “Free D.C.” chant, launched this season in the 51st minute as a nod to the longstanding push for D.C. home rule and statehood — a movement that has intensified amid earlier controversies over federal control of the district’s police and National Guard deployments.
Both clubs borrow from global soccer traditions. When the energy in the stadium dips, Spirit fans sometimes revive a lighthearted English Premier League–style chant: “Let’s pretend we scored a goal.” In the tri-state region, Gotham supporters reworked John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” into a team anthem called “Gotham Roads,” created in 2023. “To use ‘Country Roads’ was actually my idea,” said Marge Liguori, who leads Cloud 9, a major Gotham supporters’ group and a longtime Manchester United fan; she and other fans adapted the lyrics to honor the team and the region.
Singing and chanting do more than entertain — they forge community. “Really, the team is more of just a metaphor for the community,” said Max Jack, an ethnomusicologist and anthropologist at Indiana University who studies sports and music. Collective singing, he said, allows fans to share the emotional highs and lows of a match and creates “a sense of stranger intimacy that is incredibly deep and fulfilling,” offering experiences many people don’t encounter in everyday life.
That closeness extends to the players. After Gotham FC’s 2023 NWSL championship, fans serenaded defender Mandy Freeman as she approached the stands; Freeman wiped away tears while hugging supporters over the railings. “When we hear them chanting, we know that they are at our backs pushing us to victory,” said Gotham FC vice president of communications Jeff Greer.
The effect is comparable at Audi Field, where Spirit home matches are known for their high-octane atmosphere. “Our players regularly credit ‘Rowdy Audi’ for being the 12th player on the field,” said Spirit director of communications Ben Kessler, noting that supporters’ creativity and energy help define the club’s reputation.
As the finals unfold, both sets of supporters will be hoping their voices — and their rituals — help carry their teams through the day. Whether it is a drum-driven nursery tune, a reimagined country song or a cheeky Premier League call-and-response, the chants are central to the matchday identity and the shared experience of fans and players alike.