England's tune is a phone hit

Sunday Mirror, Apr 28, 2002 by JAMES HARPER

ANT and Dec's World Cup theme is already a big hit with...mobile phone users.

The official England team tune - called On The Ball - won't be released as a record until May 27, which is just four days before the first World Cup match.

But it was downloaded as a ringtone more than 10,000 times when Virgin Mobile put it on line.

A spokesman said: "We knew it would be popular, but we never expected this kind of response.

"The ringtone was available from Friday morning and within a few hours it had been downloaded thousands of times.

"It could be the most popular football tune of all time."

The TV hosts, who recorded the song without the traditional help of the England squad, are hoping it will beat Pop Idol winner Will Young's next single Light My Fire to the No.1 spot

It can be downloaded to any mobile phone at www.virginmobile.com/ ringtones

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