It could be coincidence but the noisy England band, which was barred from the England-France European Championship game, was allowed back into the stadium for England-Sweden—-and played England to victory in a five goal thriller. After driving 2,800 miles to Donetsk for Monday’s Group D opener with France and being granted admittance to the stadium the Pukka Pies-sponsored band, which plays at every England game, was stunned when security staff confiscated their instruments. Although they were handed back after the 1-1 draw, the band left for Kiev with no guarantee they would have any more luck at the game with Sweden.
However, following representations by the Football Association, Uefa allowed the band into the game…and the noise they made compensated for the Swedish fans outnumbering the 5,000 England supporters by four to one and helped England to a vital 3-2 win.
“We were gutted to have driven 2,800 miles only to have our instruments confiscated,” said bandsman John Hemmington.”So we were delighted to have the chance to create the best possible atmosphere for England fans in Kiev.”
Best possible atmosphere….as long as you’re not sitting next to them.