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Craig Jones

Emmerdale star Tony Audenshaw's forgotten England World Cup anthem

Football and music have often gone hand-in-hand and there’s some England anthems which have great longevity.

Many football fans will hold Baddiel and Skinner’s Three Lions collaboration with The Lightning Seeds in high regard. While, New Order’s World in Motion still earns countless renditions of the John Barnes rap.

Although, Emmerdale devotees will probably think of a different England football anthem. Back in 2010, the soap’s Bob Hope, played by Tony Audenshaw, took the lead vocals on song Viva Englandia.

Read more: Emmerdale star who made soap history dies

Some might well know Tony fronts the band which released the track. They are called White Van Men and have something of a cult following.

Hopefully the anthem will make many football playlists cheering on Gareth Southgate’s England side as they compete in this winter’s World Cup. You can see Tony’s effort below from when he reminded us of the song during the 2018 World Cup:

The competition kicks off on Sunday, November 20. England play their first match against Iran at 2pm on Monday, November 21.

So, now we have the fun bit about Emmerdale's connection to the World Cup out of the way it is probably a good time to remind viewers of the dates the football competition will disrupt airings.

Below are the dates expected to disrupt the regular screening of Emmerdale episodes on ITV:

  • Monday, November 21
  • Friday, November 25
  • Monday, November 28
  • Thursday, December 1
  • Friday, December 2

ITV bosses have yet to reveal the plan for rescheduling of Emmerdale and rival Coronation Street.

Although, looking back at the men’s and women’s European Championships, aired over the last two summers, there is a likely solution.

You can vote for your favourite Emmerdale character of all-time below. Alternatively, you can vote here

At that time, week-long blocks of episodes were released to stream. We’ll bring you more on plans to reschedule your favourite soaps and any additional matches due to be broadcast when we have further information.

You can visit our Emmerdale homepage to find the latest gossip about the soap and its stars.

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