‘Henry’s Barmy Army’: rowdy weapon in British star’s Wimbledon triumph

Fans of Henry Searle wearing T-shirts saying ‘Henry’s Barmy Army’ celebrate his victory in the Wimbledon boys’ singles final against Yaroslav Demin. Photograph: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

A secret weapon is handy for a crunch Wimbledon match, and for the young British tennis star Henry Searle it came in the form of a joyously rowdy group of Midlanders, who lived every shot with the 17-year-old and cheered him all the way to victory in the boys’ singles final.

The 50-strong “Henry Searle Barmy Army”, decked out in matching T-shirts that they got a courier to deliver to the pub they were sitting in the night before Sunday’s final, cheered every point, rose to their feet at every winner and generally behaved like this was the top game of the day, not the small matter of the men’s singles final between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.