Singing in the Ukraine! London gripped by Euro 2012 fever

 
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Shekhar Bhatia15 June 2012

London was in the grip of football fever today as workers piled into pubs or rushed home to cheer on England in their crunch Euro 2012 clash with Sweden.

The capital’s streets were emptying in the hours before the vital game as fans hoped Steven Gerrard’s team would help banish the blues brought on by one of the wettest Junes on record.

At the same time England supporters who had made the 1,500 mile journey to Kiev by plane, rail and road, crammed into bars in the hours up to kick-off.

England fans in the Ukrainian capital, far outnumbered by their Swedish counterparts, helped transform the city into a party in the sunshine.

More than 10 million people were expected to tune into the BBC TV coverage tonight and join the 5,000 England supporters who had made the trip.

Despite the lack of hotel rooms and inflated prices, chartered and scheduled flights landed throughout the day carrying Three Lions supporters and Kiev’s train station saw the arrival of others who had endured journeys lasting 48 hours.

“It will all have been worth it once England start playing as brilliantly as we all know they can,” said accountant Tom Woods, 24, who left London from St Pancras on Wednesday.

Jude Plant, 32, a fashion retailer from Birmingham who wore an England shirt, hugged Swedish fan Louise Rostrom and said: “What is so fantastic about being here is that there is so little tension. There are clearly more Swedish supporters than ours, but most of us know it’s a football match, even if an important one, and we just want to have a good time.

“We have been buying each other drinks and talking about their players and ours and who has the better haircuts and funny stuff like that. It is very friendly and just as it should be.”

Fears that black and Asian supporters would suffer racial abuse from Ukrainians, fuelled by BBC’s Panorama programme, were dismissed by Clifton Edwards of Streatham, whose parents were born in the West Indies.

Mr Edwards, 34, a financial adviser, said: “Nobody has bothered me about the colour of my skin at all. The Ukrainians have been very friendly.”

The locals prepared a massive “Fan Zone” with giant screens for supporters without tickets in Independence Square, which was the main scene of protests against Russia before separation from Moscow rule in 1989.

Supporters danced and sang to live bands, drank beer and posed for photographs with each other.

The Irish green and bear it

Irish fans have vowed to enjoy their final Euro 2012 game after a heavy defeat by Spain dashed their hopes of progressing to the next stage.

Hordes of green-clad fans, left, took the opportunity to “get the Guinness flowing” in pubs across London as Ireland fought to stay in its first major tournament in 10 years.

Members of south London’s large Irish community, who packed out The Alexander pub in Clapham, refused to be downcast as they saw their team beaten 4-0 by Spain.

“The miracle didn’t happen,” said Conor Daly, 28, a banker, originally from Cork. “Exactly what I expected to happen happened.”

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