The first reggae track on football was Clement Bushay Set’s Football Reggae in 1972, which included crowd noise, and celebrated both Derby County’s title triumph and the playing styles of various other professional teams. Like many other early songs from this period it was a tale of love between football and its fans in the Caribbean diaspora.

However, in the 1970s and 80s, reggae’s music and messages evolved becoming more critical, presenting listeners with assertive black, post-colonial political statements. This can be seen in LP artwork of the more dub-styled internationally-focused Scientist Wins the World Cup in 1982, which shows a cartoon of a fictional all-black team beating England in the World Cup Final.

About the author: DJ Yendis

Favritz and Hitz in the Mikz