John Hemmingham
| John Hemmingham | |
|---|---|
| Born |
John Hemmingham 26 February 1963 Sheffield, England |
| Other names | "Hema" |
| Occupation | Commercial manager |
| Known for | Leader of the Pukka Pies England Band |
John Hemmingham (born 26 February 1963) is an association football supporter and football administrator from Sheffield, England. He is best known as the leader and trumpet player of the Pukka Pies England Band. Hemmingham first started playing music at football in 1993 with Sheffield Wednesday fans. In 1996, he was invited to play at England national football team matches. He has since played at other sporting events including the Olympics and boxing matches.
Hemmingham also works in football administration. He started in 2001 as the chief executive of The Owls Trust until a dispute with the Sheffield Wednesday chairman caused him to resign in 2004. Hemmingham then went on to work at other football clubs, including Leeds United and Mansfield Town before taking a position at Sheffield Wednesday after his relations improved with them. He also married in 2007.
Hemmingham started playing music at football matches in 1993 when he took a bugle to a Sheffield Wednesday match away at Everton's Goodison Park and played the fanfare to Aida. The action was noticed by local newspapers and after a phone call to Hemmingham from Sheffield Wednesday manager, Trevor Francis, Sheffield Wednesday then hired Hemmingham and group of Sheffield Wednesday supporters to form an official club band which became known as the "Kop Band". Although the band became popular, Hemmingham and the Kop Band have been banned from Steel City derby rivals Sheffield United's stadium, Bramall Lane a number of times. In 2002, they were banned from Bramall Lane because Sheffield United were concerned that playing music might lead to "unsafe crowd movement" and "unacceptable structural movement" by Sheffield United's safety officer. In 2007, they were also banned because it was claimed by Sheffield United officials that playing music might cause structural damage to the stands to which, Hemmingham led criticism of it calling the ban "laughable".
...
Wikipedia