One Direction alum Louis Tomlinson made a lot of new friends at Glastonbury Festival after he brought in a TV to screen England's latest Euros soccer match.
The festival organizers had told concertgoers that they wouldn't be screening England's game against Slovakia, a crucial one since it decided which of the two teams would proceed to the tournament's quarter-finals.
On the day of the game, Tomlinson decided to leave the festival grounds to buy a flat-screen TV and a generator, so he could create a makeshift sports screening area using wifi.
After originally setting up in the festival's hospitality area, the singer later had to move to the main festival area due to bad reception.
When the match went into extra time following an England goal, Tomlinson told The Guardian, "It’s the second screen I’ve bought. The first got cracked. I wasn’t going to take credit for it because it looked like we were going to lose in normal time, but now that we’ve equalized I’m happy to."
What a LEGEND! 🏴 ⚽@Louis_Tomlinson brought a TV to #glastonbury to watch the England game.The festival had announced it wouldn't be screening the match anywhere at Worthy Farm.#onedirection #1D pic.twitter.com/RND1RKdOcaJune 30, 2024
England ended up winning 2-1, with Tomlinson telling BBC News exactly how he pulled of his stunt. "Well, we brought a TV in, very Glasto, and some stones and a little stand," he explained. "It was a little bit touch and go at times because the signal kept going in and out. But yeah, luckily we got the win. We pulled it off."
The main reason the festival opted not to screen the game in an official capacity is that it happened during Avril Lavigne's set. As such, festivalgoers had to decide where their priorities lied.
"I’m trying to enjoy the show while having one headphone in listening to the commentary," 30-year-old Sam Neve told The Guardian. "The game is my priority but my group wanted to see Avril so I’m happy to compromise."
As for Tomlinson, he recently performed at the Pinkpop Music Festival in the Netherlands, and is set to perform at Lollapalooza in Berlin in September—as is fellow 1D-er Niall Horan.
