Chicken George may be famous for miles around and a hit with local folk, but who would've thought that among the chain's biggest fans are the England football team?

The team behind Bancroft's wing bar and takeaway - who also have a shop in Luton - were invited to St George's Park on Monday, June 14, to throw a feat for the Three Lions after their Euros clash with Croatia, although the crew were sworn to secrecy until the end of the tournament.

%image(15618602, type="article-full", alt="England stars - including Tyrone Mings and Marcus Rashford - queued up for a meal prepared by Hitchin's Chicken George at St George's Park")

Chicken George's business development manager Dan Simpson said: "The squad get treat nights, if you like, and the England players were saying that they like wings and chicken, and it all came about that way.

Honoured to be approached to feed the squad, he added: "They contacted me, and I thought they were winding me up! They said we could come to St George's Park and put on a spread. This was right at the start of the tournament, and we've not been able to say anything about it while the tournament's been on!

"I honestly thought they were winding us up when they first got in contact, but it all turned out to be true," he added.

"We had to go through all the security protocols, COVID testing, and then it was all 'you can do this, you can't do that, this is all top secret...', but the England lads were great! The players all really enjoyed it."

Chicken-for-England--Hitchin-s-Chicken-George-share-inside-s

Chicken George's managing director and owner Chris Cheah told the Comet from his Hitchin shop: "What an honour that was! A little independent shop from Luton and Hitchin got asked during the Euros to feed the England team after their Croatia game.

"They basically get a day off - a treat day - and Chicken George was one of their treat days throughout the Euros.

%image(15618604, type="article-full", alt=""We got to meet all the guys, they were really nice," Chicken George's owner Chris Cheah gushed, adding that even though the lads ate their food a good 200 metres away, they came back to thank them for their meal - and for seconds!")

"We got to meet all the guys, they were really nice," he gushed, adding that even though the lads ate their food a good 200 metres away, they came back to thank them for their meal - and for seconds!

"For us to be considered in that kind of company is amazing!" he added.

Noting that feeding the stars was one for the history books, Chris added that the Chicken George massive are continuing on their successful crusade, and will be putting their best wing forward for Wing Fest this weekend - the world's biggest chicken wings festival - and have also filmed for a BBC show, which will air later this year.