Bath fans join huge crowds to celebrate
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I’ve always loved football – and I wasn’t allowed to play it at school. So to go from that to sitting in a sellout 87,000 capacity stadium, watching women play at that level and bringing home the Euros trophy was just amazing. Jo Bellotti , from Bath
Fans from Bath were among the many thousands to celebrate England Lionesses’ historic victory over Germany in the Euros final.
Huge crowds in Trafalgar Square looked on as captain Leah Williamson summed up the previous day on Monday saying: “I think we’ve partied more than we actually played football in the last 24 hours.”
Supporters hailed the victory as a “massive” moment, while the FA’S director of women’s football, Baroness Sue Campbell, said England’s win will make a “phenomenal difference”.
Crowds descended on central London to join the team at an event hosted by ex-player and TV presenter Alex Scott. Cheers rang out as confetti cannons and giant sparklers greeted England once again lifting the trophy.
Kate Wilkins, 52, and her daughter Isabel Wilkins, 14, and Jo Bellotti, 55, and her daughter Mils Bellotti, 15, all from Bath, were at the fanzone after watching the final.
Both Isabel and Mils play football, with Mils recently joining Bristol City.
Mils said: “It was an amazing experience, it was an amazing atmosphere. The crowd was insane. We’ve been football fans most of our lives but it helps seeing that we can achieve that too.”
Ms Wilkins said: “We’re excited about how inspiring it’s going to be for everybody.”
Ms Bellotti said: “I’ve always loved football – and I wasn’t allowed to play it at school. So to go from that to sitting in a sell-out 87,000 capacity stadium, watching women play at that level and bringing home the Euros trophy was just amazing. I never thought I’d see it in my lifetime, to be honest. It’s quite emotional.”
Yvonne Morrison, 61, took her grandson Ronnie, nine, to catch a glimpse of the Lionesses in Trafalgar Square.
Ms Morrison, from Wiltshire, said it was “amazing that they’ve been able to get this far, and that they’ve raised the profile of women’s football. It’s long overdue”.
She added: “Hopefully it will raise their salaries, and status. It’s about time they were on an equal par.”
The final attracted a peak TV audience of 17.4 million, a record for a women’s football match in the UK, according to overnight ratings released by the BBC.
The previous record was set during England’s 2019 World Cup semi-final defeat by the United States, which enjoyed a peak audience of 11.7 million.