Band admit England World Cup song killed their career and was 'worst thing they ever did'
Let’s roll back 20 years. Amy Winehouse is in the charts with ‘Rehab’, Leona Lewis wins The X Factor, Cars is out in cinemas and the WAGs truly are born.
Yep, the 2006 World Cup arguably saw the OG line up of the Wives and Girlfriends with the likes of Coleen Rooney, Abbey Clancy, Victoria Beckham and Cheryl Cole out in Germany.
But that football tournament was also accompanied by other cultural moments like Embrace’s track ‘World at Your Feet’.
Ok, yeah, maybe you don’t remember that as well.
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And the band now actually say the song killed their music career at the time as it goes down as one of their biggest regrets.
Released on 5 June 2006, it was the England squad official song and peaked at three in the UK Singles charts.
Looking back, Embrace reckon making the song ‘clipped the wings’ of their music.
The indie rock band, made up of Danny and Richard McNamara, Steve Firth, Mickey Dale and Mike Heaton experienced a ‘disappointing’ aftermath to the track.
To refresh your memory, you can give 'World at Your Feet' a listen below:
Rick admitted to Daily Star: “It's one of my biggest regrets doing that, and smoking. If I could live my life again I wouldn't go near it with a barge pole it and I would advise anybody else thinking of doing it not to do it either."
The guitarist said that when the offer initially came up, the label advised that it wasn’t a good idea but the band decided to go for it.
“I think they we were on a short list of one band so we thought, 'Ah, great, man. Everyone's gonna get behind it, and it's gonna be such a uniting sort of experience, and gonna be good for us and the country,’” he explained.
However, Rick said they experienced ‘snobbery’ in the response and the support from the English FA wasn’t the strongest.
"The FA gave us, like, four tickets to see a match in Germany, there's five of us in the band," he claimed. "You know what I mean?”
The rocker added: “There was, like, talk that they wanted a hip hop song, rather than indie song.
"A bit of like snobbery going on there, nobody wanted to be in the video, we asked, like, you know, some of the old World Cup squad if they wanted to be in the video, and they wanted an extortionate amount of money.”
Rick claimed players were ‘snubbing’ the band and experiences left them with a ‘really nasty taste’ as they found a lack of support.
There were also critiques at the time that the song was ‘too slow’.
And after making the World Cup song, he reckons it turned the tide of ‘opinion against us’ with their music. “It clipped the wings of the album, really,” he said.
Not long after this, the band entered an extended hiatus, until releasing a sixth album in 2013.
LADbible Group has contacted the English FA for comment.
How much does it cost to attend the World Cup?
Football fans wanting to watch the games in person better have deep pockets. Here’s what flights, accommodation, tickets and food and drink will cost England supporters:
Getting there
If you fancied catching England’s opening game against Croatia next Wednesday (17 June), a return flight from London to Dallas, Texas would set you back around £700, according to Skyscanner.
The second and third games are a little cheaper to get to - £400 if you want to watch the Three Lions go up against Ghana in Boston on 23 June, and £500 to see them play Panama in New York on 27 June.
But now you need somewhere to stay.
Hotel costs
NBC has crunched the numbers on hotels, looking at the average for the five cheapest hotels within 15 miles of the station as of late last month.
In Atlanta for the opening match, the average hotel room is £350 for two nights, and that’s on the cheap side.
A hotel to watch the second game in the group stages in Boston will cost £725, and the third in New York will be £485.
Now to get your ticket for the game…
Ticket prices
Tickets for the opening game against Croatia are still available and going from £430, via Seatpick.
England vs Ghana will set you back at least £330, and the match against Panama £250.
I bet all that number crunching has made you thirsty…
Food and drink prices at the World Cup
Unlike in the UK, football fans are allowed to drink in the stands in the US, Canada and Mexico - if they’re made of money, that is.
Prices at a warm-up match between England and New Zealand at the Raymond James stadium in Tampa, Florida on Saturday (6 June) might give an indication of what to expect in the World Cup proper, which is bad news for fans.
A large beer was advertised at $18.75 (£13.99), while just a bottle of water was priced at $7.50 (£5.60).
Meanwhile, according to Football Ground Guide, a basic meal and a beer will set you back $23.88 (£17.83) at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas, where England’s first game will take place.
For England’s second game at the Boston Stadium (also known as the Gillette Stadium), according to Football 2026 hot dogs are going from £6.30, while burgers will set you back £10.45.
Meanwhile, a basic meal and a beer at the MetLife stadium for England’s match against Panama will cost you £24.87.
Jess Battison