Why do England fans sing Sweet Caroline during Euro 2020?
Don't miss a thing by getting the day's biggest stories sent direct to your inbox Invalid Email Something went wrong, please try again later. Click here Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice  From Three Lions to Sweet Caroline, you've probably heard them all in the last few weeks. As football fever grips the country, England fans have been full of song as they cheered on the national team. Now there is just one game to go and a lot is resting on Gareth Southgate's side to make history by winning their first major tournament since the World Cup in 1966. England will take on Italy at Wembley Stadium this evening and if there is time for celebration after the match, you may see the players and manager partaking in another sing song with fans in the stand. READ MORE: A year to go until womens Euros kicks off at Old Trafford  On Wednesday night, the likes of Harry Kane, Jordan Henderson, Mason Mount, Kyle Walker and the rest of the squad celebrated by joining fans by singing the song after their win over Denmark. And with scenes like that possible again, we thought we'd look at how Sweet Caroline came to be a big hit among sporting fans. Well, the Neil Diamond hit was released back in 1969 but never actually reached number one in the UK or Irish charts. The closest it got to the top spot was number two in Canada. Fast forward nearly three decades and the origin as a sporting anthem appears to be across the Atlantic, where Major League Baseball team the Boston Red Sox lays claim to sparking its popularity. (Image: Getty Images for Songwriters Hall Of Fame)  It is claimed that during a game at the Red Soxs Fenway Park stadium in 1997 an employee in charge of ball-park music played Sweet Caroline because someone they knew had just had a baby named Caroline. For the next few years, the song would be played on select occasions but that all changed when Dr Charles Steinberg joined the Red Sox as executive vice president of public affairs in 2002 and came to the conclusion that the song had transformative powers. He therefore ordered it to be played during every game. This then spread to West Yorkshire and Super League side Castleford, who wanted to bring a liveliness to proceedings and the then chief executive Steve Gill, a Neil Diamond fan, had become aware of the crowd reaction to Sweet Caroline at the Red Sox. Sign up for Euro 2020 final updates England have made history by qualifying for the Euro 2020 final. It is the Three Lions' first major final since 1966 and it's also the first time they've made it to the European Championship final. Gareth Southgate's side now face Italy in the final and you can sign up for updates ahead of that game by signing up to our email newsletter in our preference centre. So they set about an experiment and parts of the track were played along with Tom Jones Delilah and Oasis Wonderwall, post match to gauge fans' reaction. The Tigers media manager Tom Maguire explained: "Sweet Caroline got the biggest reaction and it stuck." Aston Villa have been credited for bringing the song into football, claiming the anthem as one of their own and was most notably played when the team got promoted to the Premier League under Dean Smith. But the tune has also been heard at the Emirates Stadium when Arsenal win, and at T20 cricket sessions. To get the latest email updates from the Manchester Evening News, click here.