The pride of England as the Lionesses roar in Brighton

Sunday July 31st 2022, the day momentous history was made as the England women’s football team won their first ever major tournament, beating old rivals Germany 2-1 to be crowned as European Champions. Germany had previously won the tournament eight times and had never lost a final. 

Finally, the nation was able to celebrate lifting a trophy that had almost become the holy grail after fifty-six years of hurt. A record crowd of 87,192 watched the game at Wembley with millions glued to their TV sets across the country as Chloe Kelly scored the winning goal in extra time. A reported audience of 17.4 million tuned in, making it the most watched women’s match on UK television.  

Under Dutch boss Sarina Wiegman, England Women began the European Championships on the back of scoring fifty-three goals and conceding none in her first six games. Following success in the Arnold Clark Cup and winning their three pre-tournament friendlies against Belgium, Switzerland and impressively over the Netherlands, the then reigning European champions, the Lionesses kicked off their Euro 2022 campaign with a slender 1-0 win over Austria at Old Trafford.  

Then the Lionesses came to Brighton to play Norway and that appeared to be when momentum began to gain pace and people started to believe.

Those lucky enough to secure a ticket out of the crowd of 28,847 at the American Express Community Stadium, witnessed a memorable night as England broke their own tournament record with a sensational 8-0 victory. Ranked eleventh in the world, Norway were completely outclassed and outplayed in every department as Beth Mead netted a hattrick and Ellen White scored a double to move within one goal of Wayne Rooney’s all-time England goalscoring record.

The Amex crowd produced an electric atmosphere which the players undoubtedly fed off and a stunning performance by England only served to support their status as one of the tournament favourites. After the seventh goal went in, there was a loud rendition of ‘It’s coming home’ around the stadium and, as supporters shone lights from their phone cameras, the full-time whistle was greeted by the players dancing in wonderful scenes of celebration. The players gathered in front of fans and the stand containing their families, held hands and sang ‘Sweet Caroline’ before walking around the pitch to reap the plaudits that were coming down from the stands.

However, their toughest test was just around the corner as one of the other tournament favourites, Spain, were  the visitors to the Amex in the first of the quarterfinals. 

England were unbeaten in 17 games heading into the match, but they fell behind when Esther Gonazalez broke the deadlock in the 54th minute to give Spain a deserved 1-0 lead.

With a new quarter final high of 28,994 people packed into the stadium and tension rising with every minute that passed, the pre match excitement reached fever pitch as coach Wiegman’s expertise came to the fore. Two of her changes combined to draw England level with just six minutes left as Manchester United team-mates, Alessia Russo heading down for Ella Toone to score. With thirty minutes of extra time to play the nail biting thought of a penalty shoot-out simply became too much to contemplate and the crowd noticeably raised the noise levels. The players responded, Spain looked rattled and when Georgia Stanway advanced towards Spain’s penalty area six minutes into the restart and unleashed an absolute rocket into the top corner, it felt like if there had been a roof at the Amex, then it would have come off. Rapturous celebrations followed and continued for the rest of the match and when the whistle went for the end of the contest, there were scenes of unbridled joy both on and off the pitch as England’s women had secured a remarkable 2-1 success.

Despite the clash being interrupted by a protestor who tried to tie themselves to the goalpost, this was unquestionably a match that will live long in the memory for those who were there. Jubilant scenes were echoed by chants of “It’s coming home” across the stadium in the dying moments of the match and at full-time, a joyous crowd joined the England players again in a chorus of ‘Sweet Caroline’.

The show rolled on to Bramall Lane, Sheffield United’s ground for the semi-final where an equally incredible atmosphere undoubtedly helped to produce a resounding 4-0 thrashing of Sweden.

Then, onto Wembley and a day that created history. It’s finally come home!