The Viking Thunder Clap or Viking Clap is a

football chant A football chant or terrace chant is form of vocalisation performed by supporters of association football, typically during football matches. Football chanting is an expression of collective identity, most often used by fans to express their p ...

, consisting of a loud shout and a clap in unison, which is then repeated initially several seconds later and gradually speeding up over time. The chant has been performed by fans of a number of clubs, but came to prominence during the

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

, when fans of Iceland national team introduced their 'viking clap' or 'volcano clap' with a 'huh' chant. During the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

when Iceland were one of the participating teams, the clap once again drew attention. The Viking Thunder Clap has been adopted by fans of many countries worldwide.

Origin

The chant may have been inspired by the film ''

300 __NOTOC__ Year 300 (Roman numerals, CCC) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantius and Valerius (or, less frequently, ...

'' released in 2006. Some believed the chant was first used by fans of Scottish club

Motherwell F.C. Motherwell Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, which plays in the Scottish Premiership. Motherwell have not dropped out of the top-flight of Scottish football since 1985, and have lifte ...

, while others suggest it had been performed by fans of the French club

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements''), ...

more than two decades prior. Fans of the Greek side PAOK have also chanted "PAOK" on the clap of hands since the mid 1990s. Styrmir Gislason, the head of the Association of Icelandic Football Fans stated that the chant was inspired by Polish handball chants. During the

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

performed unexpectedly well and reached the quarter-finals, and the performance of the chant by their fans drew the attention of other European fans, who then also performed the chant. It has since been adopted by fans in many countries worldwide.

Other teams

Fans of the following teams regularly perform versions of the viking clap: * Esteghlal fans performed the Viking clap immediately after the end of the

; With each clap, they call their team nickname "S.S". *

Persepolis , native_name_lang = , alternate_name = , image = Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Ruins of the Gate of All Nations, Persepolis. , map = , map_type ...

supporters began using the Viking clap immediately since

Branko Branko (Cyrillic script: Бранко; ) is a South Slavic male given name found in all of the former Yugoslavia. It is related to the names Branimir and Branislav, and the female equivalent is Branka. People named Branko include: * Branko Babić ...

Era. *

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...

fans began using the chant in 2016 after the Icelandic version came to prominence. *

Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, ...

perform a variant called "The Storm Surge." *

India national football team The India national football team represents India in international football and is governed by the All India Football Federation (AIFF). The team is affiliated to FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Indian team, which was once cons ...

have started using the viking clap since

Blue Pilgrims Blue Pilgrims is an organised group of football fans who support the India national football men's team, women's team, and all the other age–group national teams at almost every home and away game. Founded in 2017 before the commencement of ...

was formed. It was used by the Indian national team during both the

2019 AFC Asian Cup The 2019 AFC Asian Cup was the 17th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in the United Arab Emirates from 5 January to 1 ...

and

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) The Asian section of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualificationAlso the "AFC Asian Qualifiers Road to Qatar". acted as qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup to be held in Qatar for national teams who are members of the Asian Football Confederation ...

. *

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

chant 'skol' rather than the 'huh' since 2016. *

Seattle Sounders Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club w ...

perform a variant called "Boom, Boom, Clap" dating to before the club was reformed in 2009, chanting 'hey' rather than 'huh'. *

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

fans have performed the "Boom, Boom, Clap" chant since 2008. *

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce B ...

used the 'Viking clap' at the final career home game for now-retired Swedish twins

Daniel Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...

and

Henrik Sedin Henrik Lars Sedin (born 26 September 1980) is a Swedish ice hockey executive and former professional ice hockey centre who played his entire 17-season National Hockey League (NHL) career with the Vancouver Canucks from 2000 to 2018. He additional ...

on April 5, 2018. *

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

fans started doing it in 2022 to show support for their new Icelandic striker

Jón Daði Böðvarsson Jón Daði Böðvarsson (transliterated as Jon Dadi Bodvarsson; born 25 May 1992) is an Icelandic professional footballer who plays as a right winger or a striker for League One club Bolton Wanderers and the Iceland national team. Jón Daði i ...

. *

Kerala Blasters Kerala Blasters Football Club (), commonly referred to as The Blasters, is an Indian professional football club based in Kochi, Kerala, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top tier of football in India. The club was established i ...

fans began using the Viking clap since 2017 after its popularity reached in India.

References

External links

YouTube - Iceland throws epic homecoming party for Euro 2016 team
{{Iceland national football team Association football culture UEFA Euro 2016 2018 FIFA World Cup Motherwell F.C. Iceland national football team Viking Age in popular culture