ENGLAND LOST A FINAL, BUT GAINED A HOME
Fourfourtwo editor James Andrew was in the crowd for England’s home knockout games at Euro 2020, and explains why an unforgettable tournament gave the new Wembley a soul it had lacked since 2007
Good times never felt so good. After famous victories over Germany and Denmark, the lyrics of Neil Diamond’s
Sweet Caroline reverberated around Wembley and all the way home.
It felt like the start of something new – not just for this England team, but also the stadium that they call home. Gareth Southgate’s side didn’t triumph at Euro 2020, and football didn’t come home, but something genuinely special happened this summer.
In order to appreciate the good times, you also need to remember the bad – and boy, have there been some bad times supporting England.
The new Wembley opened in March 2007; my worst moment as a Three Lions fan came only eight months later, when Steve Mcclaren’s team lost 3- 2 to Croatia and failed to qualify for Euro 2008. The atmosphere in the stadium that night was hostile, and at times poisonous. Players and manager were booed and jeered throughout the game. The rain fell non- stop, and the queues back to Wembley Park tube station felt never- ending.
When the Jubilee Line was struck by delays because of a trespasser on the tracks, the train driver duly announced, “Let’s hope it’s Steve Mcclaren”. Harsh, but it sadly brought the loudest cheer of the night.
Supporting England at Wembley felt like a real slog back then. There was a real disconnect between fans and team that never looked repairable.
Over the next 14 years under Fabio Capello, Roy Hodgson and then Gareth Southgate, England’s home displays improved – but the atmosphere was rarely more than sterile. Wembley was just a stadium, rather than feeling like a real home. It was soulless. Game after game, 90,000 fans would turn up, but it felt like 90,000 individuals, rather than one body of support.
This summer, all of that has changed. Buying a ticket for an England game at Wembley felt exciting, and something to look forward to. Was it because fans have been starved of the matchday experience for so long, or because the team that Southgate was building was young, fresh and exciting? Maybe both.
I was lucky enough to get tickets for the games against Germany, Denmark and Italy. It was a privilege to be in the
EVEN WITH REDUCED CAPACITY, WEMBLEY WAS LOUDER THAN ANYTHING BEFORE IT
stadium for them, among a united support. If one person sang, we all sang. Even with the reduced capacity of 40,000 for the Germany game, then around 65,000 for the semi- final and final, it was louder than anything the stadium had heard before.
It was fun, and it was upbeat. Every song played over the stadium speakers was met with a loud cheer followed by the largest karaoke session in western Europe. Three Lions, Sweet Caroline,
Freed From Desire and even Atomic Kitten’s Whole Again became the new national anthems, as fans sang their hearts out – before the matches had even kicked off.
It would be remiss not to mention the ticketless fans who stormed in for the final, the booing of opposition national anthems, and when England players knelt before kick- off. All were regrettable, but applause for the knee thankfully far outweighed the boos.
Every time God Save The Queen was sung, it was spine- tinglingly loud. Fans never let the decibel level drop after.
This England squad that Southgate has assembled is both talented and likeable, but the support of the fans gave them that extra edge. At this Euros they were roared on non- stop, from first whistle to last.
When Bukayo Saka saw his decisive penalty saved against Italy, the mood was one of only dejection. The boos and jeers of 2007 were long gone – if sadly not online, where trolls still lurk.
Football may not have come home this summer, but England have finally found theirs. Only history can give a stadium a true identity; the old ground was dominated by the ghosts of 1966 and 1996. This Wembley will forever have the summer of 2021 – when England became whole again.