Visualize the name, “LA Riot Squad”. The name generates a tremendous sense of passion, courage, and fury. However, the riot squad’s new chant song for the former Sheffield United player, Billy Sharp, has left fans stunned as it is a rendition of the children’s song “Baby Shark”.
Billy Sharp has had a career spanning almost twenty years at the senior level. Starting his professional career at Sheffield United, the 37-year-old played for several premier league clubs such as Southampton, Doncaster Rovers, Nottingham Forest, and Leeds United, before joining LA Galaxy on a short-term deal of two months on 15 August 2023, with an option to extend the contract for one more year.
His early days as a footballer weren’t easy as he was labeled as “the fat boy from Sheffield”, however, Sharp would define the odds and score tons of goals in the lower divisions of English football, helping his team qualify for the Championship.
The Englishman’s start at the Championship won’t be easy as well he would only score 13 goals in 3 seasons (from 2007 to 2010) for Sheffield United, eventually leaving the club. During this time, Billy’s newborn son would also die from Gastroschisis.
Even in such a bleak moment in his life, his professionalism wouldn’t be hindered as he would play just two days later, even scoring a goal and dedicating it to his late son. The cult of Billy Sharp would rise as he would hopscotch around various Championship clubs, scoring goals consistently, before finally returning to his boyhood club, Sheffield United.
This is when Billy Sharp would cement his place as a legend of English football and Sheffield United, as he would score 109 goals for the Blades between 2015 to 2023, promoting his team from the Championship to the summit of English football, the Premier League, while serving as the club captain.
Billy Sharp also holds the record for most goals scored in the championship with 130 goals in 399 appearances.
Having already scored 2 goals in 4 appearances, LA Galaxy supporters decided to honor the Englishman with a new chant and fans are calling it the most American thing ever. The lyric of the chant goes like this, Billy Sharp, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo Billy Sharp, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo Billy Sharp, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo Billy Sharp. Don’t know how American it is, but surely this is the most anti-British chant one can hear.
The origin of the chant comes from the 2016 rendition of the song, “Baby Shark”, created by Pinkfong, a South Korean children’s entertainment company. They would release the song with a video that went viral, spreading across social media, online platforms, and radio. In January 2022, it made history by becoming the first YouTube video to hit 10 billion views.
Neutrals are quite divided as one section of the fans thinks that the song doesn’t fit with the context of football and lacks creativity at large, as almost the entire lyric of the original song is the same as the chant with the exception being, Billy Sharp instead of Baby Shark.
English fans are particularly bothered as they think a hero like Billy Sharp deserves a better chant, as the Baby Shark-inspired one is puerile to the core.
Another clan says that it’s actually funny and the backlash is because of it being American and not English.