Oklahoma soccer team replacing anthem with Woody Guthrie song

A semipro soccer team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, will replace the national anthem with Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” at all home matches.

Tulsa Athletic co-owner Sonny Dalesandro said the team went away from “The Star-Spangled Banner” after reviewing the rarely sung third verse of Francis Scott Key’s poem, which includes the line: “No refuge could save the hireling and slave from the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave.”

Dalesandro said that does not align with the club’s core values, and when lining up the Declaration of Independence against the line in “The Star-Spangled Banner,” he “sided with ‘all men are created equal.’”

The Athletic is part of the National Premier Soccer League, which has more than 90 teams.

Dalesandro said Thursday the fact Guthrie was born in Okemah, Oklahoma, a small town about 65 miles from Tulsa, was a key factor in the new song that was picked. He also simply thought it made sense.

“The song choice for us was super inclusive in that ‘This land is your land, this land is my land,’ ” Dalesandro said.“‘This land was made for you and me.’ That to us was a nod to the immigrants and the veterans that helped build this country.”

Dalesandro said the change had been considered for a while and was reinforced after the death of George Floyd while in police custody. He spent some time Thursday speaking with military members and pledged to continue to support them.

“It was meant to be something that started a conversation to potentially grow things closer together,” he said.