England fans hopes are dashed as King’s Cross screen set to show Wizard of Oz over World Cup semi-final
England fans hold up a giant replica World Cup trophy in the stands. Picture: PA - Credit: PA Archive/PA Images
King’s Cross developers ignoring tomorrow’s World Cup semi-final to screen “additional Wimbledon coverage” and The Wizard of Oz have “failed a big culture test”, says a Cally councillor.
N1C shows the tennis tournament every year, and this year is hosting a Summer Love Film Festival on the banks of the Regent’s Canal when the matches are done for the day.
But when onlooking football fans saw workers installing a second screen this morning they hoped it would be for the England v Croatia game tomorrow night.
They were wrong. Anyone who turns up will be getting just the one lion on screen, because the classic 1939 film is being shown instead – and the second screen is simply due to huge demand.
“The new screen will be used for additional Wimbledon coverage through the second week of the Championships,” a spokeswoman said. “We’re not showing football, just tennis and great films!”
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The news hasn’t gone down too well in some quarters, with fans suggesting N1C should have shown more courage.
Cally councillor Paul Convery has also weighed in, saying N1C had “failed a big culture test”.
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“Football isn’t the sport they think their demographic likes,” he said. “Illustrates how the new King’s Cross sits uneasily with the rest of us, sometimes.
“And don’t forget folks: it isn’t a public square at all. It’s a privately owned public realm.”
Alice Whaley added on Twitter: “Mental! First semi-final in 28 years, all these new public squares (apparently for the use and good of the community) and organisers decide not to show one of the biggest sporting tournaments we’re lucky to be a part of!
“You couldn’t make it up.”
