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‘We will intervene’: German police warn England fans coming to the Euros don’t sing Ten German Bombers
14 June 2024, 09:45 | Updated: 14 June 2024, 10:01
German police will ‘intervene’ should England football fans chant ‘10 German Bombers’ at the Euros this summer, LBC has been told.
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It comes ahead of the start of the tournament in Germany with heightened security in place for England’s opening group stage match against Serbia on Sunday.
Officials have claimed the game is a 'high risk' tie, having noted that that there is a chance 500 "hooligan fans" could try to cause chaos in and around the stadium in Gelsenkirchen.
LBC has been told UK officers will be stationed in the German city to assist authorities in the security operation.
Police have also warned England fans about the singing of a controversial chant which mocks German casualties during World War Two.
The chant is partially a corruption of the nursery rhyme Ten Green Bottles but sung to the tune of traditional folk song She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain.
It replaces the lyrics "bottles hanging on the wall" from the former with "German bombers in the air" - before the line: "...but the RAF from England shot them down".
Speaking to LBC, German police chiefs responsible for policing England’s clash against Serbia have promised to take action against supporters who sing the chant.
“The Gelsenkirchen police are looking forward to all peaceful English football fans, whom we warmly welcome as guests. In the event of defamatory fan chants, riots or threats to security, the police will intervene consistently and check whether criminal conduct has occurred," a spokesman said.
Calls to crackdown on the singing of the ‘10 German Bombers’ chant have grown since footage emerged, earlier in the month, of it being sung during England’s Euro 2024 warm-up win over Bosnia and Herzegovina at St James’ Park.
But speaking to LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage rejected those calls.
"It's very important that young men are not men, they shouldn't drink beer, they shouldn't have fun, they shouldn't chant, no no, we are to live in a modern puritan world.
"Is it any wonder that so many young Gen Z-ers are now supporting me on TikTok and elsewhere because they're being told not to be young lads. I know this is difficult for the Germans but please, get a sense of humour”, Mr Farage told LBC.
England and Scotland have both qualified for the Euro 2024 in Germany which kicks off today.
More than 300,000 Brits are expected to travel to the tournament, making it their highest attendance since the Euros in France in 2016.
