The England Band

Last updated

The England Band are the official supporters band of the England national football team, from Sheffield and are led by John Hemmingham. They were sponsored by Pukka Pies from 2006 until 2014. [1]

Contents

History

The band first performed at England games in 1996 after the then England manager, Terry Venables, and head of The Football Association, David Davies, heard them playing for Sheffield Wednesday fans away at Arsenal and invited them to play at England matches just in time for Euro 96. [2] The band say that they try to learn a song of the opposition and refuse to play anything controversial, for example not playing the Dambusters March when England are playing Germany. [2] In 2008, entertainer Bernie Clifton joined the band. [3]

The band planned to perform at the 2008 Summer Olympics as the "Great Britain Band in Beijing", but they were not permitted to take their instruments into the Birds Nest Stadium. Instead they performed on the streets of Beijing. [3]

At UEFA Euro 2012, the band were not permitted to perform at England's game against France in the Donbass Arena in Donetsk, Ukraine, despite having UEFA approval. [4] The band were allowed to enter the stadium but had their instruments confiscated. [4] However, after an appeal by the FA, the ban was overturned and they were cleared to perform at England's next group game against Sweden. [5]

The band were also forbidden from playing at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil by FIFA, due to strict rules on not allowing instruments into the stadiums. [6]

Charts

The band have also released The Great Escape theme tune as a single for the 1998 FIFA World Cup and a newer version for UEFA Euro 2000. The original peaked in the UK charts at number 46 while the later version reached number 26.[ citation needed ]

Criticism

The band has been the subject of extensive criticism, mainly levied at them by fellow England fans. They have been referred to as "horrific" and a Twitter account was set up calling for them to be banned, which quickly gained 500 followers. [7] They have also been considered repetitive. Comedian David Baddiel said, "I tire of endless Rule, Britannias and Great Escapes", and is "aware" of the band's refusal to play Three Lions. [7] When the large contingent of Polish fans drowned out the band at Wembley during the final group qualifier for the 2014 World Cup, Guardian journalist Barney Ronay welcomed the fact:

"There had been a fear before kick-off that 18,000 or so Poles would out-sing and out-atmosphere the home support, albeit anything that might drown out the England band, whose parpings and whumpings tend to produce the feeling of being very slowly lulled into semi-consciousness by a dementedly patriotic stage hypnotist, is to be welcomed."

—  [8]

After the same game, England fans were quoted in The Guardian as saying that the band are like "the Go Compare advert of international football fans", that "they are right up there with the vuvuzela for wanting to stab myself in the head with a fork" and that "If 18,000 Polish supporters drown out the England band, they should be invited to every game at Wembley." [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">England national football team</span> Mens association football team

The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affiliated with UEFA and comes under the global jurisdiction of world football's governing body FIFA. England competes in the three major international tournament contested by European nations: the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA European Championship and the UEFA Nations League.

The Heysel Stadium disaster was a crowd disaster that occurred on 29 May 1985 when mostly Juventus fans escaping from a breach by Liverpool fans were pressed against a collapsing wall in the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, before the start of the 1985 European Cup Final between the Italian and English clubs. Thirty-nine people—mostly Italians and Juventus fans—were killed and 600 were injured in the confrontation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wembley Stadium (1923)</span> Former stadium in Wembley Park, London

The original Wembley Stadium was a football stadium in Wembley, London, best known for hosting important football matches. It stood on the same site now occupied by its successor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UEFA Euro 1996</span> 10th European association football championship

The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 June 1996. It was the first European Championship to feature 16 finalists, following UEFA's decision to expand the tournament from eight teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gareth Southgate</span> English football manager and former player (born 1970)

Gareth Southgate is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a defender and midfielder. He has been the manager of the England national team since 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Association football culture</span>

Association football culture, or football culture refers to the cultural aspects surrounding the game of association football. As the sport is global, the culture of the game is diverse, with varying degrees of overlap and distinctiveness in each country. In many countries, football has ingrained itself into the national culture, and parts of life may revolve around it. Many countries have daily football newspapers, as well as football magazines. Football players, especially in the top levels of the game, have become role models.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tartan Army</span> Fans of the Scotland national football team

The Tartan Army are fans of the Scotland national football team. They have won awards from several organisations for their friendly behaviour and charitable work. They have also been criticised at times for aspects of their behaviour, however, such as indecent exhibitionism and jeering at "God Save the Queen".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Football hooliganism</span> Violent behaviour by football spectators

Football hooliganism, also known as soccer hooliganism, football rioting or soccer rioting constitutes violence and other destructive behaviours perpetrated by spectators at association football events. Football hooliganism normally involves conflict between gangs, in English known as football firms, formed to intimidate and attack supporters of other teams. Other English-language terms commonly used in connection with hooligan firms include "army", "boys", "bods", "casuals", and "crew". Certain clubs have long-standing rivalries with other clubs and hooliganism associated with matches between them is likely to be more severe.

"Ten German Bombers" is a children's song, originally sung by British schoolchildren during World War II, and also the British Military. It has been adopted as a football chant by English football fans at matches against Germany. The song has recently been criticised as discriminatory by both the UEFA and the FA with fans chanting it facing bans from competitions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">England–Germany football rivalry</span> National team association football rivalry

The English and German national football teams have played each other since the end of the 19th century, and officially since 1930. The teams met for the first time in November 1899, when England beat Germany in four straight matches. Notable matches between England and Germany include the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final, and the semi-finals of the 1990 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 1996 and the round of sixteen of the 2010 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2020. While the English public, football fans and in particular newspapers consider an England–Germany football rivalry to have developed, it is mostly an English phenomenon since most German fans consider the Netherlands or Italy to be their traditional footballing rivals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the England national football team</span> Aspect of history

The history of the England men's national football team, also known as the Three Lions, begins with the first representative international match in 1870 and the first officially-recognised match two years later. England primarily competed in the British Home Championship over the following decades. Although the FA had joined the international governing body of association football FIFA in 1906, the relationship with the British associations was fraught. In 1928, the British nations withdrew from FIFA, in a dispute over payments to amateur players. This meant that England did not enter the first three World Cups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wembley Stadium</span> Football stadium in London, England

Wembley Stadium is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium hosts major football matches including home matches of the England national football team, and the FA Cup Final. Wembley Stadium is owned by the governing body of English football, the Football Association, whose headquarters are in the stadium, through its subsidiary Wembley National Stadium Ltd (WNSL). With 90,000 seats, it is the largest stadium in the UK and the second-largest stadium in Europe.

The 2000 UEFA Cup Final Riots, also known as the Battle of Copenhagen, were a series of riots in City Hall Square, Copenhagen, Denmark between fans of English football team Arsenal and Turkish team Galatasaray around the 2000 UEFA Cup Final on 17 May 2000. Four people were stabbed in the scuffles, which also involved fans from other clubs and were viewed by the media as part of a retaliation for the killing of two Leeds United fans by Galatasaray supporters the month before.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UEFA Euro 2020</span> 16th edition of the quadrennial football championship

The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the European Championship competition, UEFA president Michel Platini declared that the tournament would be hosted in several nations as a "romantic" one-off event, with 11 cities in 11 UEFA countries each providing venues for the tournament, making it the second tournament in the history after the 2007 AFC Asian Cup to have more than two nations co-hosting it. Defending champions Portugal, who won UEFA Euro 2016 in France, were eliminated in the round of 16 by Belgium. Italy won their second European Championship title by beating England on penalties in the final following a 1–1 draw after extra time. The win came exactly on the 39th anniversary of Italy's 1982 FIFA World Cup Final win over West Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Football hooliganism in the United Kingdom</span> Hooliganism associated with football in the United Kingdom

Beginning in at least the 1960s, the United Kingdom gained a reputation worldwide for football hooliganism; the phenomenon was often dubbed the British or English Disease. However, since the 1980s and well into the 1990s the UK government has led a widescale crackdown on football related violence. While football hooliganism has been a growing concern in some continental European countries in recent years, British football fans now tend to have a better reputation abroad. Although reports of British football hooliganism still surface, the instances now tend to occur at pre-arranged locations rather than at the matches themselves.

John Hemmingham is an association football supporter and football administrator from Sheffield, England. He is best known as the leader and trumpet player of the England Band. Hemmingham first started playing music at football in 1993 with Sheffield Wednesday fans. In 1996, he was invited to play at England national football team matches. He has since played at other sporting events including the Olympics and boxing matches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UEFA Euro 2016 riots</span> Series of football riots in France

The UEFA Euro 2016 football championships in France saw several recorded instances of football hooliganism and related violence between fans, both at the venues where matches took place, and in cities near the participating stadiums. The violence started immediately before the tournament began, and involved clashes between several countries. Some of the rioting came from established gangs and football hooligan organisations, which deliberately intended to provoke violence. They clashed with riot police who controlled the crowds using tear gas and a water cannon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UEFA Euro 2020 final</span> Final match of the 2020 European Football Championship

The UEFA Euro 2020 final was an association football match between Italy and England that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, England, on 11 July 2021 to determine the winner of UEFA Euro 2020. It was the 16th final of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial tournament contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA to decide the champions of Europe. Originally scheduled for 12 July 2020, the match had been postponed along with the rest of the tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.

"No Surrender (to the IRA)" is a chant sung to the tune of the hymn "Oil in My Lamp", expressing opposition to the Provisional Irish Republican Army, that has been used as a football chant by England fans. It was sung in pubs in the 1970s and 1980s. It was sung by Rangers F.C. supporters, many of whom have strong unionist beliefs. It may have been adopted by English fans who switched to following Scottish clubs during the five-year period that English clubs were banned from competing in European cups following the Heysel Stadium disaster. In the 21st century the song is controversial and many supporters refuse to sing it. The English Football Association emailed supporters asking them to refrain from singing it ahead of a May 2013 game against the Republic of Ireland, but it continues to be sung.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UEFA Women's Euro 2022 final</span> Final of the 13th edition of the UEFA Womens Championship

The UEFA Women's Euro 2022 final was a football match on 31 July 2022 that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, England, to determine the winner of UEFA Women's Euro 2022. The match was contested between hosts England, who won, and Germany.

References

  1. ↑ "Footballs' pukka band!". BBC News. 11 May 2006. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  2. 1 2 Walters, Mike. "Exclusive interview with The Pukka Pie England Band". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Olympic ban a sour note with band". BBC News. 19 August 2008. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  4. 1 2 "England band's instruments confiscated ahead of game". BBC News. London. 11 June 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  5. ↑ "Euro 2012: England band have trumpet plea lifted". The Telegraph. London. 14 June 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  6. ↑ Rumsby, Ben (31 May 2014). "World Cup 2014: England's Three Lions' supporters' band likely to miss out on as organisers refuse to let them play" . Retrieved 9 June 2019– via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  7. 1 2 Bloom, Ben. "Euro 2012: England band allowed to continue playing but fans tell them to go home". Metro. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  8. ↑ Ronay, Barney (15 October 2013). "England are at the World Cup finals – you never doubted them, did you?". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  9. ↑ Gallagher, Paul (20 October 2013). "Brassed-off England fans seek great escape from supporters' band". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.