The power of the pre-match playlist

If England go on to win Euro 2020, you might just have Ed Sheeran to thank. The pop star played a morale-boosting private gig for the squad last week at their St George’s Park training camp in Staffordshire. ‘A bit of food, a barbecue – he jumped on the guitar and played a few songs,’ reported Jordan Henderson. But Sheeran’s set (some of his own songs, plus acoustic versions of UK garage hits) is part of a long and not-always-harmonious relationship between football and pop music. From David Beckham’s dire pre-game playlist to the reason Johnny Marr of the Smiths failed a trial at Manchester City, here’s the turf where Top 40 meets 4-4-2 …

It’s understandable that world-class sports stars will want to look to music for inspiration. The boxer Joe Calzaghe, for instance, always played Spitfire by the Prodigy before his fights. But footballers are often let down by their questionable taste in music.