England band banned.

[oldironside]

The band have been a feature of England matches since 1996 and, having secured assurances from both the FA and Uefa, were expecting to be in their usual positions at Monday night's Group D opener with France in Donetsk.

After an initial problem, the 10 members did get to their seats, only for local security staff to step in and tell them their instruments broke ground regulations and were being confiscated for the duration of the game.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/euro-2012/9326758/Poll-should-the-England-band-be-banned-at-Euro-2012.html

Marvellous and not before time. They have been ruining the atmosphere at England matches since 1996 with their dreadful, tuneless, grating repetition of the same three tunes. No better than a crowd of Vuvuzelas.

[Ron Obvious]

1. Hmmmm.....

No better than a crowd of Vuvuzelas.

Nothing's worse than vuvuzelas. The England band are merely annoying.

[oldironside]

4. It must be my ears then.

I find a constant droning in Bb less irritating than their pathetic efforts.

[T_i_B]

2. Wish they'd ban 'em from Hillsborough

The England band are the Sheffield Wednesday kop band. They got banned for a short time thanks in no small part to internal politics involving previous owner Dave Allen (currently chairman of Chesterfield FC). However, they were brought back.

To be honest they don't improve the atmosphere at games.

[oldironside]

3. They don't improve the atmosphere.

They destroy it. Any true football fan knows that the atmosphere comes from the spontaneous reactions of the crowd. How can the crowd react when those talentless egomaniacs are grinding their way through the theme from The Italian Job for the 900th time?

[T_i_B]

5. Usually.....

....the crowd starts off with one chant then the band strikes up with something completely different.

Still, beats the horrors of the chip butty song.

[oldironside]

6. Thanks to the wonders of Wikipedia...

The song is to the tune of Annie's Song by John Denver

You fill up my senses
Like a gallon of Magnet
Like a packet of Woodbines
Like a good pinch of snuff
Like a night out in Sheffield
Like a greasy chip butty
Like Sheffield United
Come fill me again....
Na Na Na Naa Naa Naaaaa, ooo!

That to me is what football humour is all about and that's exactly the sort of thing the 'band' destroys.

[T_i_B]

7. I prefer this version

You messed up promotion
When we beat you at Hillsborough
When you drew against Stevenage
When you lost to the Dons

When they locked up your rapist
When you screwed up the shootout
Oh Sheffield United
You've f**ked up again!

In any case, the blunts version is out of date. You can't get John Smith's Magnet these days, although why you would when Sheffield is full of much much better beer these days is another matter.

[oldironside]

8. Wikipedia says...

... that it could also be "Like a gallon of maggots".

[T_i_B]

9. No that's what West Ham would feed to the blunt's Lawyers

[oldironside]

10. I'm quite relaxed.

We're back playing with the big boys, and where are they? The Exchange And Mart Third Division?

[T_i_B]

11. They should have been promoted to the Championship really

The trouble is, they were reliant on 1 player, and that 1 player just so happens to be a rapist.

So when he got sent down their season went off the rails a little bit. Good news for us Wednesdayites as we were able to snaffle automatic promotion in their place while they went on to lose yet another play off final.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1215366

On another note, the band have been allowed to do their stuff at tonight's match against Sweden. I just wish that they did requests. "flight of the bumble bee" for instance, or maybe a little bit of "Yakkity Sax". What's worse about 'em is that they've got sponsorship from Pukka Pies!

[oldironside]

12. I've never had a Pukka Pie in my life...

... but when I'm back in the UK for the semis and the final I will make a point of boycotting them. On another blog someone described them as "slurry in a tortoise shell". Fair?

As for the band: I really can't believe it. How thick and insensitive are they to not realise almost everyone hates them? It's like Gordon Brittas x 6, with brass instruments thrown in for added irritation. I signed the petition, I voted in all the newspaper polls and we're still going to have it inflicted on us tonight. Makes me wish someone had shot Bernie Clifton's ostrich a long time ago.

Still, let's hope for a good performance, if only to shove it to the London media bores who still want Redknapp in charge...

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-tottenham-chairman-daniel-levy-and-the-fa-have-sabotaged-harry-redknapps-career-7851982.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2012/jun/14/euro-2012-roy-hodgson-visionary

Be warned - you will be engulfed in a Tsunami of bullshit if you read these articles.

[PennyB]

13. Am I the only one who doesnt have a problem with them?

At Wycombe Wanderers games we have a drummer who manages to do a pretty good job and helps add a bit of atmosphere. Im not an England fan, nor have I been to an England game so cant say Ive been annoyed by the England band, but if they are anything like the Wycombe drummer they are awesome.

Or do I stand alone

[oldironside]

14. Most of the newspaper polls...

... have around an 80% negative rating for them, so you are in a tiny minority.

The biggest problems with them are that (a) they always repeat the same 8 bars of the same 3 tunes (b) they are awful musicians - they couldn't carry a tune in a bucket, and (c) they destroy the atmosphere by drowning out spontaneous chants and songs from the real fans.

[fedsron2us]

15. I cheered when the Ukrainian police took their instruments away

and groaned when I heard they had given them back. It is not that I object to musical accompaniment to football. It is just that this lot keep playing the same bloody tunes badly over and over again. If we are going to have a band at England games at least lets get some decent musicians.

BTW it does not help that they are the Sheffield Wednesday 'house band' and I always supported Sheffield United when I lived in that city (I am a sucker for lost causes).

[oldironside]

16. You weren't the only one who cheered.

I don't know any football fan who doesn't despise them. It just proves that football is about bringing people together.

Point of information: Were they there for the Sweden game? I didn't hear them, but maybe German TV filtered them out.

As a brief aside, Oliver Kahn is doing postmatch analysis for ZDF from a beach on the Baltic Coast. Strange but true. After the France game he was incredibly condescending about the England players. "Well, yes, that was shit, but that's the best you can expect from them." Seems like that 5-1 in Munich still stings a bit.