John Bishop gets to live out his childhood dream by helping England’s footballers get ready for the World Cup as part of a Sport Relief sketch.
The sketch sees comedian and keen footballer help England manager Gareth Southgate prepare his squad for this summer’s competition – with comical results.
After announcing his involvement in a shock press conference, Bishop sets out on a one-man mission to instil into the current squad the values of the 1966 winning team.
In scenes that follow, an elaborate goal celebration between Tottenham Hotspur players Dele Alli and Eric Dier is interrupted by the funnyman, who advises them to adopt a more “reserved” celebration, and Harry Kane receives a special lesson in penalty shoot-outs from Rugby World Cup winner Jonny Wilkinson.
There are special appearances from a host of other stars including Southgate, Sir Geoff Hurst, Melanie Chisholm, Ricky Hatton, Kenny Dalglish, Jeff Stelling, Sophie Raworth, Jake Humphrey, Joe Hart, Gary Lineker and Sir Ringo Starr, as Bishop uses their help to get the England team in top condition ahead of flying to Russia to take on 31 other international teams.
Liverpool FC’s Jordan Henderson, Adam Lallana, Joe Gomez and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain also star in the sketch in the guise of another ‘fab four’ from Liverpool.
Bishop’s Spirit of 66 sketch can be seen during Sport Relief’s big night of TV, which kicks off at 7pm on BBC One on March 23.