"five Boroughs/one City" Back-and-forth Chant At The 51st Minute

[ExternalTangents]

I've pretty much only been a lurker here, more active on the NYCFC subreddit. I posted this idea on /r/NYCFC and it got a pretty good response. I thought sharing it here might be a good idea too:

One of the club's slogans is "5 Boroughs, 1 City", so what if at the 51st minute mark, we had the crowd all do a cheer? Something simple like half the stands yelling "Five Boroughs" and the other half responding with "One City". It could theoretically go back and forth for the entire 51st minute.

I'm imagining something like what Seattle does with "Seattle" / "Sounders" here:

A couple non-MLS examples are Florida and Ohio State football cheers.

It might be hard to coordinate the stadium dividing in half for the two phases, so another way to do it could be having the supporters sections yell "Five Boroughs", and the rest of the crowd respond with "One City."

Just a thought. It'd be simple, easy to do in unison, easy to start on cue, and a cool tradition for the fans to do at every match. 5 Boroughs, 1 City at 51'.

 

[erwin]

I feel like it's a little too verbose. Maybe it'll catch on, if I'm hearing it in my head wrong?

 

[Buckley]

Why just not do New York ---- Ci-ty

 

[ExternalTangents]

Why just not do New York ---- Ci-ty

New York – Ci-ty is great for any point during the game, and it’s good as a call-response that can be started at any point in the game, by whoever wants to start it. I'm not trying to replace any existing cheers.

My suggestion is specifically about creating one point in every game where we do one specific cheer. The “Five Boroughs, One City” phrase is a commonly used in our branding, and I figured “5 Boroughs, 1 City” could go well at the 51st minute. There’s a link between the phrase and the specific match time that doesn’t exist in the “New York – Ci-ty” call/response.

My thinking is that this could eventually become a known moment of every game that fans look forward to, where we’re all as loud as possible and give a shot in the arm to the team. Lots of teams in lots of sports have a specific moment in every game where their fans do some cheer or song, this was my idea of something like that for us.

 

[LostAnvil]

I really like the idea and am interested to hear how it sounds - have you contacted anyone in the supporters sections to get the first part of the chant going?

I remember your Reddit post because TrynaGetThePipe was being a colostomy bag

 

[SoupInNYC]

New York – Ci-ty is great for any point during the game, and it’s good as a call-response that can be started at any point in the game, by whoever wants to start it. I'm not trying to replace any existing cheers.

My suggestion is specifically about creating one point in every game where we do one specific cheer. The “Five Boroughs, One City” phrase is a commonly used in our branding, and I figured “5 Boroughs, 1 City” could go well at the 51st minute. There’s a link between the phrase and the specific match time that doesn’t exist in the “New York – Ci-ty” call/response.

My thinking is that this could eventually become a known moment of every game that fans look forward to, where we’re all as loud as possible and give a shot in the arm to the team. Lots of teams in lots of sports have a specific moment in every game where their fans do some cheer or song, this was my idea of something like that for us.

I like this idea a lot. Its unique and easy to chant out. If its done very limited, it makes it even more special. To get it started, might have to do half the supporters section chant "Five Boroughs", then the other half, "One City" for a few games until the rest of the stadium can finally get a clue on it. And not to change your idea too much, but I think it would be cool if it was a chant we did right after kickoff, as well as during stoppage time at the end of both halves. I went to Marquette and we would chant, "We Are" clap clap "Marquette" clap clap at the very beginning and end of games. Very limited, which made it all that more special.

And I think this can be done on top of a "New York" "Ci-ty" call and response. These are not mutually exclusive.

 

[Mario]

Stadium wide capos

 

[Gotham Gator]

I like it.

 

[JayH]

I'm all for cue chants since it's the only way the rest of the stadium knows to get involved given that most can't hear the supporters sections. I've been clamoring for cue chants all along, but whoever has taken charge of the chants does not seem to be thinking much as to what the rest of the stadium is doing. The easy stuff still has no direction. What is the chant when we score? What is the chant when Saunders makes a save? What about a David Villa chant at the 7th minute? What about something like you propose for the 51st minute? Anything so that folks sitting throughout the stadium know what to do. I'm all for the supporters sections singing their songs. But there are 20k other people who can't hear them and have nothing to react to.

 

[erwin]

I'm all for cue chants since it's the only way the rest of the stadium knows to get involved given that most can't hear the supporters sections. I've been clamoring for cue chants all along, but whoever has taken charge of the chants does not seem to be thinking much as to what the rest of the stadium is doing. The easy stuff still has no direction. What is the chant when we score? What is the chant when Saunders makes a save? What about a David Villa chant at the 7th minute? What about something like you propose for the 51st minute? Anything so that folks sitting throughout the stadium know what to do. I'm all for the supporters sections singing their songs. But there are 20k other people who can't hear them and have nothing to react to.

Cue chants are great, but also, from what I understand, the supporters section wants more of a free-flow kind of support versus a 'X needs to be chanted at 7 minutes, Y chant at 36' and so on, which is similar to the Red Bulls support who follow almost what can be described as a setlist.

There is a shortlist floating around: http://t.co/h4lY4dRzhz which is simple enough for people to sing and for others to catch on to.

Alternatively, sound does not travel efficiently horizontally in the stadium. Across chants would be better, but maybe coordination between people in each section would be good to start.

 

[JayH]

Cue chants are great, but also, from what I understand, the supporters section wants more of a free-flow kind of support versus a 'X needs to be chanted at 7 minutes, Y chant at 36' and so on, which is similar to the Red Bulls support who follow almost what can be described as a setlist.

There is a shortlist floating around: http://t.co/h4lY4dRzhz which is simple enough for people to sing and for others to catch on to.

Alternatively, sound does not travel efficiently horizontally in the stadium. Across chants would be better, but maybe coordination between people in each section would be good to start.

I agree that a forced set list is less than ideal. Though at a minimum the entire stadium should know what to do when we score a goal and when, for example, our goalie makes a save. Take the New York Rangers for example. The entire Garden is singing the goal song after a goal which is amazing, and everyone knows the Hen-Rik chant after a save. It's not forced (like some may consider the 7 or 51 minute chants which I also like) but it's the only way the whole stadium will get involved.

Other sections will never chant the songs on the shortlist or a longer list because we can't hear when the supporters are singing them (I am right on the field on the third base line, so not that far away) and the supporters sections are on mute due to the lack of noise travel) and even if I tried to start a chant in my section, 99% of the strangers would not know the songs to catch on, and even if a few did, it wouldn't leave the section.

These are just some unfortunate logistical issues, which is why in this stadium, with these issues, some cues may be helpful. Just my thoughts.

 

[erwin]

I agree that a forced set list is less than ideal. Though at a minimum the entire stadium should know what to do when we score a goal and when, for example, our goalie makes a save. Take the New York Rangers for example. The entire Garden is singing the goal song after a goal which is amazing, and everyone knows the Hen-Rik chant after a save. It's not forced (like some may consider the 7 or 51 minute chants which I also like) but it's the only way the whole stadium will get involved.

Other sections will never chant the songs on the shortlist or a longer list because we can't hear when the supporters are singing them (I am right on the field on the third base line, so not that far away) and the supporters sections are on mute due to the lack of noise travel) and even if I tried to start a chant in my section, 99% of the strangers would not know the songs to catch on, and even if a few did, it wouldn't leave the section.

These are just some unfortunate logistical issues, which is why in this stadium, with these issues, some cues may be helpful. Just my thoughts.

Oh, completely agree, and appreciate the positive back and forth - hence the songsheets. A lot of the songs will be familiar to many USMNT and English Premier League supporters.

I think the NYC (in rapid succession) chant spread quite quickly which kind of puts both of our acoustics arguments to bed. If enough people know the melody and or words to certain songs, they can easily jump in.

I am in the corner near the foul post and also have trouble hearing the supporters section, which also is due to acoustics, I believe... but again, I think if enough people hear some of the chants on the list in their sections and in addition to coordination between sections (there has been capo talk; if not familiar with capos, they are basically chant leaders in each section).

Either way, we're both arguing similarly for the same thing. Ultimately, it's down to logistics to spread songs as well as the acoustics, I feel. Trying to get everyone on the same page with those sheets is a step forward, but we need to make more progress in that regard!

 

[JayH]

Oh, completely agree, and appreciate the positive back and forth - hence the songsheets. A lot of the songs will be familiar to many USMNT and English Premier League supporters.

I think the NYC (in rapid succession) chant spread quite quickly which kind of puts both of our acoustics arguments to bed. If enough people know the melody and or words to certain songs, they can easily jump in.

I am in the corner near the foul post and also have trouble hearing the supporters section, which also is due to acoustics, I believe... but again, I think if enough people hear some of the chants on the list in their sections and in addition to coordination between sections (there has been capo talk; if not familiar with capos, they are basically chant leaders in each section).

Either way, we're both arguing similarly for the same thing. Ultimately, it's down to logistics to spread songs as well as the acoustics, I feel. Trying to get everyone on the same page with those sheets is a step forward, but we need to make more progress in that regard!

Agreed. And good point on the "NYC" chant, that has worked, almost as a natural reaction by people to chant when something exciting has happened. I think the shortlist is great, and if folks can creatively circumvent some of the YS issues to spread those through the crowd, that would be terrific. Capos strategically placed and additional coordination I think would certainly help. We almost need some sound engineers and physics majors to help with some of the brainstorming and coordinating!

 

[erwin]

Agreed. And good point on the "NYC" chant, that has worked, almost as a natural reaction by people to chant when something exciting has happened. I think the shortlist is great, and if folks can creatively circumvent some of the YS issues to spread those through the crowd, that would be terrific. Capos strategically placed and additional coordination I think would certainly help. We almost need some sound engineers and physics majors to help with some of the brainstorming and coordinating!

Share the sheets, try and get some of the chants on there started! You're welcome to join Hearts of Oak at Yankee Bar and Grill to get the melody of some of the chants. Where are you sitting? I'm in 134.

 

[JayH]

Share the sheets, try and get some of the chants on there started! You're welcome to join Hearts of Oak at Yankee Bar and Grill to get the melody of some of the chants. Where are you sitting? I'm in 134.

Will do. I'm in the first row of 123, so way down the third baseline from you!

 

[erwin]

Will do. I'm in the first row of 123, so way down the third baseline from you!

Haha maybe we can link up before the match and coordinate something. Thanks for sharing!