Programme of Events

'More than just a rugby match ...'
The Army Navy match day is an action packed day with something for everyone.
The day's events comprise:

Twickenham Stadium - Main Events
Rugby Road, Twickenham

11.45 am	Gates Open
12 noon	Combined Services U23 v England Students U23
1.30 pm	The HSBC Schools Rugby Festival supported by the Daily Express    Finals for U12s, U13s and New Girls U14s    New Schools Finals U12s and U13s at 3.40pm
2.20 pm	Live Entertainment from Classical Brit Award Winners BLAKE and The Band of HM Royal Marines - See more...
3.00 pm	ARMY v NAVY for The Babcock Trophy Army won (50-7)

The Babcock Trophy

Kneller Hall - Morning Events
Royal Military School of Music
Kneller Road, Twickenham

Map of Royal Military School of Music, Kneller Hall, Twickenham TW2
(courtesy of Multimap.com)

A ticket to the Army v Navy Match is required for entry to Kneller Hall
but there is no further entrance fee.

Refreshments will be available to purchase during these matches

  Pre-match Entertainment

Blake

From forming on Facebook in 2007 to winning the Album of the Year Award at the Classical BRITs in 2008, it has been an extraordinary journey so far for these four exceptional young singers. Bridging the gap between pop and opera, their classically trained voices are of unusual purity, and are perfectly showcased on their eponymous debut album. Their achievement of winning the publicly voted Album of the Year award is underlined by the fact that theirs is only the second debut album to have ever won the acclaimed title.

Their meteoric rise to stardom has resulted in acclaim from celebrities worldwide. In an early indication of the fame to come, Keira Knightley interrupted the recording of their debut album to say how much she loved their sound. Latterly, they've hung out with Will Smith, and Ewan Macgregor has even proclaimed himself a fifth member of the band. They've sung for Shirley Bassey (at her 70th birthday party), performed in front of 80,000 football fans at Wembley Stadium, and are managed by the same company as international icons Bryan Ferry and Darcey Bussell (The TCB Group).

Little did the boys know what was to come when they first got in touch with each other on the social networking site Facebook. Days after forming they had a major label record deal, and following that they were dispatched to a top flight studio to record songs for their debut album. Stephen Bowman, recalls that despite only singing together a handful of times: "The sound clicked instantly; it was remarkable. It's extremely rare to get four voices which enhance each other to produce such a distinctive sound, but with us it just worked".

The summer of 2007 saw their version of Swing Low chosen to be the Official Anthem of England Rugby for the English team's heroic effort in the Rugby World Cup. They roused fans with their live performance of this iconic number at venues as diverse as Twickenham Stadium and the Eurostar terminal at Waterloo.

Numerous TV appearances and interviews followed, as the boys became caught up in a whirlwind of public attention. Legendary Hollywood filmscore composer Hans Zimmer asked them to sing on the soundtrack for the sequel to the Da Vinci Code, "Angels and Demons".

Their debut album 'Blake' was released in November 2007. It immediately went to number one in the UK Classical Album Chart and hit the top 20 of the UK Pop Album Chart. The polished fusion of classical music and pop, incorporating beautiful versions of the Beach Boys' 'God Only Knows', the Gladiator theme music and other classical songs (all recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) proved a hit with the British public. Within three weeks the album attained gold status in the UK, and it has now gone on to sell in excess of 100,000 copies. During their time slot for the BBC TV Children In Need appeal in 2007, Blake helped to raise in excess of £1,000,000.

Their much anticipated second album, And So It Goes, was released in September 2008 and this looks to build on the band's remarkable success in capturing the hearts of a devoted and fast growing audience from across the spectrum of music lovers.

Featuring a range of songs including: Chasing Cars, Time To Say Goodbye, The Closest Thing To Crazy, Up Where We Belong, Nella Fantasia and a unique take on Wild Mountain Thyme; the album showcases the passion and virtuosity of four trained choristers who quickly realised that together they had something uniquely special to offer music lovers.

October saw the quartet jetting out by special request to sing at the opening of the Melbourne Cup, the biggest event on the social and sporting calendar in Australia.

And December 2008 brought a full support tour with Katherine Jenkins, at legendary venues such as the Manchester MEN Arena, London's Royal Albert hall, the Cardiff Arena and the Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow.

As well as devoting themselves to their music, the band also spends time individually and collectively supporting two charities close to their hearts which work ceaselessly for Britain's armed forces and the loved ones who also pay the ultimate price for their heroism - Help For Heroes and War Widows. The band performed at the Help for Heroes Charity Rugby Match at Twickenham on September 20 last year and are supporting the charity again today on the occasion of the Army Navy Rugby Match.

See more at: www.blakeofficial.com

The Royal Marines Band

The origins of the Royal Marine Band date back to 1767 when the Royal Marines Divisional Bands were formed at Chatham, Plymouth, Portsmouth and Deal. However the original Royal Marines Band Service, together with its headquarters, the Royal Naval School of Music, was founded in 1903 to provide Bands for the Royal Navy. Today all Royal Marines Bands are required to provide every imaginable musical ensemble including orchestras and dance bands. They have played on many occasions at the Army Navy Match.

Read more about The Royal Marines Band

  Souvenir Programme

Programmes will be available for purchase on the day. From every programme sold we will donate £1 direct to Help for Heroes.

If you would like to advertise in the programme please contact Paul DaSilva at PPL Sport & Leisure on 01372 847889.

If you are unable to come to the match but would like to order this year's programme and support Help for Heroes at the same time, please contact PPL Sport & Leisure to order a copy @ £4 plus p&p at www.pplsport.com.

Charity of the Day - Help for Heroes

A collection will be taken during the course of the Army Navy Match day. Please give generously to support their work. More information can be found about H4H on their website at www.helpforheroes.org.uk