Skip to main content
MusicRadar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
UK EditionUK US EditionUS AU EditionAustralia SG EditionSingapore
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Artist news
  • Guitars
  • Controllers
  • Drums
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Guitar Amps
  • Music Gear Reviews
  • Synths
  • Software & Apps
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About us
More
  • Christine McVie's masterpiece
  • Macca vs Phil Collins
  • Music theory tricks
  • Kiss From a Rose
  • 95k+ free music samples
  • Yes
  1. Artists
  2. Guitarists

10 football-mad guitar heroes

News
By Henry Yates
Published 27 August 2014

Soccer-loving six-stringers

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Pete Doherty

Pete Doherty

Around the world, and certainly within the UK, the only thing capable of inspiring as fanatical a following as music, is football. Here’s our pick of 10 famous guitar players and their club of choice…

Pete Doherty

Team: Queens Park Rangers

As a teenage stoner, the Libertines frontman edited a QPR fanzine called All Quiet On The Western Avenue and treated the team’s ground like his own personal squat:

“I would climb into Loftus Road in the summer when the stadium was empty and sit there with my little book and pen, smoking a spliff behind the goal.”

Page 1 of 10
Page 1 of 10
Serge Pizzorno

Serge Pizzorno

For the Kasabian man, the Midlanders’ chilling mediocrity is the whole point.

“The great thing about Leicester City is we’re shit,” he told Four Four Two. “We are absolutely rubbish. But that doesn’t matter, because every so often when we do achieve something, it’s all the sweeter after so much suffering.”

Page 2 of 10
Page 2 of 10
Bryan Adams

Bryan Adams

The wedding-dance king adopted the Blues when he moved to London.

“It’s easy to walk to,” he reasons. “My first game was in 1985. The fans recognise me, but they don’t hassle me, It’s just [cockney accent] ‘Alwight...?’”

Page 3 of 10
Page 3 of 10
Steve Jones

Steve Jones

As a teenage oik, the Sex Pistols guitarist was a face in the Craven Cottage stands.

“I never watched the game,” Jones clarifies. “I used to go for the aggro.”

Page 4 of 10
Page 4 of 10
Slash

Slash

“I’m a football fan and I always root for Stoke, because they’re the underdog,” said the guitarist, interviewed at half-time in the 2011 FA Cup Final between Man City and Stoke.

“They’re a great team, but they never quite make it.” [They lost 1-0].

Page 5 of 10
Page 5 of 10
Simon Neil

Simon Neil

“I’d rather not say who I support,” squirmed the Biffy Clyro singer, in a 2010 video interview ahead of the Old Firm clash with Celtic.

“It’s a family thing. I don’t go to the games, but that’s my team.”

Page 6 of 10
Page 6 of 10
Ronnie Wood

Ronnie Wood

The Black Country sloggers are the unlikely choice of rock royalty, with Eric Clapton wearing the club scarf on the sleeve of Backless and the Stones’ guitarist admitting a “soft spot” for the Baggies:

“They were very big in the 50s. It’s a bit like my boys now supporting Arsenal and Chelsea.”

Page 7 of 10
Page 7 of 10
James Allan

James Allan

As a flying teenage winger, the Glasvegas frontman played 105 games in the Scottish Football League, but daydreamed of a place in the double-winning Celtic side of the late-80s:

“I’d love to have been a sub or even just trained with them. The players around that time were as artistic as any painter.”

Page 8 of 10
Page 8 of 10
Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney

“My family are officially Evertonians,” Macca explained of his dual allegiance.

“But I thought, ‘You know what? I am just going to support them both, because it’s all Liverpool and I don’t have that Catholic-Protestant thing’.”

Page 9 of 10
Page 9 of 10
Noel Gallagher

Noel Gallagher

The former Oasis guvnor is a ‘proper’ fan - he supported City before the 2008 injection of sheikh-dosh that transformed them from whipping boys to champions.

Noel also hates local rivals Man United with such venom that when their defender Gary Neville quoted an Oasis lyric, he threatened to “tie him to a chair, pull his tash out and shit in his manbag”.

Page 10 of 10
Page 10 of 10
CATEGORIES
Guitars
Henry Yates
Read more
Noel Gallagher of Oasis performs on stage during the opening night of their Live 25' Tour
Guitarists “They’re not really football people are they?” Noel Gallagher watch the World Cup final half-time show
 
 
Ian Anderson in the 1970s
Artists “I gave up guitar when I heard Clapton, the way people are put off tennis when they watch Federer”
 
 
Noel Gallagher and Harry Kane composite image
Singles And Albums “It belongs to the people”: Noel Gallagher supports Wonderwall becoming England’s World Cup anthem
 
 
Jesus and Mary Chain portrait, 2026
Guitarists “Eddie Van Halen ruined rock guitar all through the '80s and '90s”: Fighting talk from the Jesus And Mary Chain
 
 
Artists “I spent hours in the studio on this one song. I probably spent $10,000 trying to get it to work”
 
 
Jared James Nichols takes a solo on his 1952 Gibson Les Paul, aka Dorothy.
Artists “A lot of people lost the plot”: Jared James Nichols on what's wrong with vintage guitar culture
 
 
Latest in Guitarists
Jack White and Charley Crockett composite image
Singers & Songwriters “You get in the Lamborghini and put your kids in private school”: Charlie Crockett gets personal with Jack White
 
 
Brian Setzer wears a red neckerchief and plays a Gretsch in traditional Round-up Orange in this Stray Cats performance from 2019.
Artists Rockabilly icon Brian Setzer on his recovery from the autoimmune condition that stopped him playing guitar
 
 
Jam Pedals Tiny Amp Destroyer
Artists Stu Mackenzie and Jam Pedals team up to bring you the secret behind his KGWL guitar tone
 
 
Ritchie Blackmore takes a solo on his Fender Stratocaster
Guitarists The guitar genius of Ritchie Blackmore in 5 classic tracks
 
 
Ritchie Blackmore performs with Deep Purple for the first time in more than 30 years
Guitarists Watch Ritchie Blackmore perform onstage with Deep Purple for the first time in more than 30 years
 
 
Joe Bonamassa with his two new signature Martin acoustics
Artists Martin unveils a pair of Joe Bonamassa signature acoustics based on his 1937 pre-War vintage unicorn
 
 
Latest in News
Donna Lewis Bei "Rsh Gold Verleihung" In Kiel 010297 . (Photo by Franziska Krug/Getty Images)
Artists How going back to her Korg M1 demo helped Donna Lewis to create one of the biggest US hits of 1996
 
 
Aston Origin deal
Microphones I've recorded everything from vocals to guitars with this unbelievably versatile mic – and it just plummeted to only $79. That's so cheap I had to check the price twice
 
 
Ariana Grande live looper
Artists Ariana Grande’s live looping moment on her Eternal Sunshine tour isn't her first
 
 
wrist sequencer
Tech Someone put a chiptune synth and 16-step sequencer in a watch - and it looks as bonkers as it sounds
 
 
Jack White and Charley Crockett composite image
Singers & Songwriters “You get in the Lamborghini and put your kids in private school”: Charlie Crockett gets personal with Jack White
 
 
Brian Setzer wears a red neckerchief and plays a Gretsch in traditional Round-up Orange in this Stray Cats performance from 2019.
Artists Rockabilly icon Brian Setzer on his recovery from the autoimmune condition that stopped him playing guitar
 
 

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google
  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...