As one gang of England fans start up a round of 10 German Bombers outside the Gelsenkirchen piazza bar, another nearby group chimes in: “shut up” is their contribution.
Sung to the tune of She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain, the divisive and repetitive song with its lyrics describing RAF planes shooting down German aircraft has long been chanted in certain sections of the Three Lions’ travelling support, despite England managers for decades calling for it to stop.
But sensitivities around it being sung at this tournament, in front of local Germans trying to offer a gracious welcome to their European neighbours, are heightened.
The local police chief in Gelsenkirchen, where fans are gathered ahead of England’s opening match against Serbia, has described the song as “stupid” and most England fans on the city’s Heinrich König Platz tended to agree.
“A decent fan just walks away when they hear 10 German Bombers starting,” said Ashley Brown, 55, a retired firefighter from north London. “It is just boring and disrespectful,” added another England fan in his 50s. “I came here in for the 2006 World Cup and it changed my mind about the Germans,” he said. “They’re lovely.”
It is unlikely to be the final flight of 10 German Bombers but there are some signs its popularity is waning.
Baddiel and Skinner’s Three Lions – with the out-of-date lyric referencing the “30 years of hurt” since the last England tournament win – naturally remains a favourite for English fans. But with new tournaments and new optimism come fresh entries into the repertoire of travelling supporters.
Favourites in the early days of the 2024 Euros tournament include a tribute to the Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden to the tune of Dancing in the Dark by Bruce Springsteen. “Can’t start the fire, can’t start the fire without a spark, Phil Foden is on fire, running through the middle of the park,” they sing.
Then there is the return of Southgate You’re the One (Football’s Coming Home Again) to the song Whole Again, most recently covered by the girl band Atomic Kitten. “Looking back on when we first met, I cannot escape and I cannot forget, Southgate you’re the one, you still turn me on, football’s coming home again.”
Of course, the underlying messages of the England fans are not always entirely positive. A popular chant is “Scotland gets battered everywhere they go, everywhere they go” sung to the tune of Beautiful South’s hit Rotterdam. That song has been perhaps extra piquancy for the English after Scotland’s 5-1 drubbing in their opening tie against Germany.
But the unfortunate start to the tournament has seemingly not stymied the Scots’ own creativity, with fans continuing to belt out their versions of Yes Sir, I Can Boogie, a disco hit originally sung by the Spanish duo Baccara in 1977 and which has been popular since a video of ecstatic Scotland players dancing to the tune went viral in 2021 after the team’s qualification for the last Euros.
