Ashes 2023: Plane flyover Headingley Stadium with message for Aussies masterminded by Leeds bar

Andy Taylor, owner of Taylor’s Sports Bar and Grill in Otley Road, organised the stunt to coincide with England’s huge win at the Ashes on July 9. A video of the flyby circulated on social media has since garnered more than one million views.

“The atmosphere in Headingley over the last week has been like nothing else,” explained cricket fan Andy. “This is the pinnacle of sporting excellence and to have it in Headingley is amazing.”

When arranging the flyover, he was told that his message would be limited to 32 characters. It forced him to think long and hard about what he wanted the banner to say.

In the end, he settled on “Same Old Aussies”, a reference to Australian wicket-keeper Alex Carey’s controversial stumping of England’s Jonny Bairstow earlier this month. The message was followed by “TaylorsSportsBar”, to make use of the remaining characters.

Andy said: “I was stood in Headingley and watched it go over, then I heard the crowd cheering. It didn’t go on the BBC, but I thought it was still money well spent because we all enjoyed seeing it.

“Then I saw that the Barmy Army fan group had Tweeted about it and it had more than one million views. Since then, people have been chanting it. It has been incredible how it has blown up.”