Arsenal Chants and Songs: The Words, the Tunes and Where They Came From

Arsenal's songbook runs from a 1971 FA Cup single to a 2022 folk song that 60,000 people now sing before every home game. Here are the ones that matter, with the words fans sing and where each one came from.

One-Nil to the Arsenal

The chant that turned a reputation for dull, narrow wins into a boast.

The Lyrics:

"One-nil to the Arsenal, one-nil to the Arsenal."

It is sung to Go West, first recorded by the Village People in 1979 and a hit again for the Pet Shop Boys in 1993.

Arsenal fans disagree about the first time it was sung. The common view places it at the Parc des Princes on March 29, 1994, in the Cup Winners' Cup semifinal first leg against Paris Saint-Germain. Ian Wright had put Arsenal 1-0 up, and the Pet Shop Boys' Go West was played in the stadium. Some fans date it earlier, to a 1-0 win over Manchester City in September 1992.

It is sung whenever Arsenal lead by a single goal late in a game.

North London Forever

The pre-kickoff anthem at the Emirates.

Its real title is The Angel. Louis Dunford, a singer from Islington and an Arsenal fan, released it in February 2022 as a song about his home, his family and the friends who live there. Fans began sharing it online, Mikel Arteta invited Dunford to the training ground, and the club first played it before the home game against Leeds United on May 8, 2022.

It has opened every home game since. The whole ground sings the chorus unaccompanied just before kickoff.

It is a commercial record, so this post does not reproduce the lyrics. Licensed lyric sites carry them.

Good Old Arsenal

The oldest song on the list, and the only one written for the club.

Broadcaster Jimmy Hill wrote it for the 1971 FA Cup Final, setting new words to Rule, Britannia! The first-team squad recorded it and it reached number 16 on the UK Singles Chart. Arsenal won the league and FA Cup double that season.

It is still played before home games. Like North London Forever, it is a published record, so this post names it rather than prints it.

The Vieira Chant

The classic player chant of the Invincibles era.

The Lyrics:

"Vieira, whoa-oh, Vieira, whoa-oh, he comes from Senegal, he plays for Arsenal."

Patrick Vieira was born in Dakar, Senegal, and captained Arsenal's unbeaten 2003-04 title side. Fans who sing it now often swap in "played."

The Modern Player Chants

Each of these has its own post, with the full words and the tune it borrows.

• Bukayo Saka Chant: sung to Voulez-Vous by ABBA, with a last line about winning the league that came true in 2026
• Declan Rice Chant
• Viktor Gyokeres Chant

What Arsenal Fans Sing and When

• Before kickoff: North London Forever, with Good Old Arsenal on the stadium speakers
• With a one-goal lead: One-Nil to the Arsenal
• For a player on the ball or on the scoresheet: that player's chant

The FootyTracks Arsenal Songs

FootyTracks writes original songs about Arsenal players rather than covers of the chants.

The catalogue has Saka's Starboy, the Declan Rice song, the Odegaard song, Goodbye Martinelli, the Trossard farewell, the Max Dowman wonderkid song and Quantum of Tzolis. All of them are in the Listen block above, and the Arsenal collection holds the full set.