The Relevance of Music on Football Pitches 

Published on: 19 November 2020
The Relevance of Music on Football Pitches 
Footballers listen to music when going into matches

Music plays a vital role in the behavior and psychological tendencies of human beings. Even animals respond to music. This is why music is so deeply a part of our lives.

For several decades, music has remained an integral part of major sporting events. Endurance athletes such as runners, cross-country skiers, cyclists, and mountain bikers rely on music to keep their motivation levels up. 

Interestingly, studies have also shown that the same applies to footballers. We've always associated chants, drums, vuvuzelas, anthems, and several other forms and components of music to football games. However, there have been limited stories centered on whether these footballers draw inspiration from the sound of music surrounding them or if their performance is hardly ever impacted by music.

There are multiple websites that allows to stream music, but there are some exclusive to YouTube soundtracks or freestyles that you can download on your mobile or desktop by using a YouTube downloader in order to listen to your track while being offline or if you would like to avoid the ads while listening to your sport playlist.

Music Positively Impacts The Performance Of Footballers

This is perhaps the best way to explain the affinity of footballers for headphones. Several coaches and footballers use music to psychologically prepare themselves ahead of big matches. We can safely say that music helps to put players in the mood for an outstanding performance. That’s why the opening ceremonies are always accompanied by a concert, like Dua Lipa performing during the 2018 world cup ceremony, or David Guetta during the Euro 2016 opening. 

We can also see this in play on training pitches where coaches infuse inspiration from music to boost the morale of players. Typically, if you're exercising on a treadmill, you realize that you wear out or tire easier without music than with music on. In other words, listening to music tends to dull your feelings of exhaustion, thereby keeping your performance at the best levels. 

Accordingly, in a study conducted on some footballers in Northern Germany by a group of researchers at the Institute for Sports Science from the University of Hanover, music positively impacts performance on the pitch. Their findings showed that the footballers did better when fed music of synchronized rhythm through headphones.

However, the researchers discovered that a better performance is associated when the music is in rhythm with movement on the pitch. Just as runners perform better with music that's in sync with activity, the footballers put up a better game given synchronized music. And with an asynchronous collection of sounds, there was a lesser performance. 

The conclusion from this study maintained that though it wasn't practically possible to give headphones to footballers and feed them with select sounds while running around the pitch, it can be adopted on trading grounds. Obviously, it would be hard for coaches to communicate with the players while they're busy listening to music. But it does reveal the deep-seating connection existing between music and the game of football. And if well harnessed, it can be used to enhance any team's performance on the pitch. 

Several other researchers have also investigated this finding and came up with interesting suggestions. Not only does synchronous music boost the performance of footballers, but it also raises the team morale, especially if the selected pieces resonate with the team members individually. Therefore, this can be deployed to create a team rhythm during training sessions and before matches. During football games, the jubilation and cheering of the fans also bring in extra morale boost to the team on the pitch. 

Music Also Influences Football Fans

Interestingly, the impact of music in football games is similar to traveling on a two-way street. Of course, the chants and musical instruments have a way of cheering the footballers on. They also play a role in lifting the spirits of the fans. 

Fans will naturally cheer their team, and if the team is winning, you can expect to hear more chants and jubilation. A winning team, as already established in the preceding paragraphs, is influenced by the sound of music and jubilation from the terraces. This is why supporters clubs will always have a role to play in football games. Even before major football games like the world cup and tournaments alike, the fans are usually treated to a grand repertoire of musical entertainment.

Essentially, when it comes to football games, music is inseparable from football, as it not only sets the right atmosphere for the game but also keeps the performance of the footballers and the morales of the fans at high levels.

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