One of the surprise upsets of Euro 2004 before a ball has even been kicked has been the trouncing of the tournament's official anthem.

Come On England is rising to the top of the charts ahead of the official England song, All Together Now by The Farm, which limped into a disappointing tenth position last weekend.

No one was more surprised than jobbing violinist Mark Knight, from Brighton, who plays violin on the hit track.

In today's Pop Idol-sanitised world, the idea for the song sounded like the recipe for musical disaster.

Mark plays with a bunch of other thirtysomethings on an old Dexy's Midnight Runners track which has been turned into a soccer anthem.

It is enough to make Simon Cowell reach for the smelling salts. Nevertheless, Come On England, by rock ensemble 4-4-2, is proving a hit with football fans.

With Euro 2004 kicking off tomorrow, soccer fever is gripping the nation and millions of flags and banners are being displayed by people cheering Sven's boys.

Rather than being swept along by the official song, fans have been flocking to buy Come On England, a reworking of dancefloor stomper Come On Eileen.

It was number two in the midweek charts and ten-piece 4-4-2 hope it will overtake gospel singer Mario Winans to reach the top spot on Sunday.

Mark, 31, known as Mad Fiddler, said: "The gutting thing is, a month ago we were 100-1 to get the number one slot and now we're evens. But not one member of the band put any money on it."

Mark, who has recently started working in Dundee, is determined to make the most of his moment in the spotlight.

Last night he was driving back to Brighton from Scotland, stopping twice en route to pick up a T-shirt and a specially designed violin painted with a cross of St George.

Today he faces a series of local media interviews before living every aspiring pop star's dream and doing Top Of The Pops.

In true Roy Of The Rovers style, he has suddenly reached the musical equivalent of Wembley after years in the lower leagues.

He said: "It's all about being seen. Whenever you do a gig, no matter how many people are in the audience, you just don't know who's watching.

"You just hope someone will see you play and think they know how to use you."

Thanks to his musical contacts, Mark was approached last year when the idea for Come On England was first mooted.

In the past few weeks, with helpful promotion from TalkSport radio and The Sun newspaper, the song has spiralled.

He said: "The midweek charts have us at number two.

"I'm a negative sort of guy so I think we'll probably go down a bit from there but we are almost definitely going to be in the top ten.

"We're recording Top Of The Pops for next week's show and afterwards we're doing CD:UK live on Saturday alongside the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who I love."

At home in Brighton, Mark's Turkish wife Neslihan is keeping her fingers crossed for Come On England, even if her fellow countrymen missed out on qualification for the tournament.

Mark said: "She's excited about the song and wishes she were coming around with me. She just wants me to pack her in a suitcase and take her around as a groupie."