Let’s salute Gareth’s band of brothers

HE great Liverpool manager Bill Shankly once noted: “Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you it is much, much more important than that.”

That may seem like a strange statement as we come to the end of a pandemic which has claimed so many lives.

But as we approach the England football team’s first major final since that glorious day 55 years ago when Bobby Moore raised the

Jules Rimet trophy at Wembley, we are reminded that sporting achievement has a way of lifting the national spirit like nothing else.

It is not just that the England team has reached the final – although that in itself is worthy of the adulation – it is the manner in which Gareth Southgate and his men have done it and the circumstances in which it has happened.

As the Queen herself noted in her good wishes to Mr Southgate – surely soon Sir Gareth – and his team “with the hope that history will record not only your success but also the spirit, commitment and pride with which you have conducted yourselves”.

It was she who presented the trophy to the English captain in 1966 and we all pray that her grandson Princewilliam will be doing the same tonight.

When England kicked off their remarkable run on June 13, this country was in the process of unlocking.the dark days of fear and hiding behind our doors were coming to an end.

The success on the pitch arrived as the nation as a whole was beginning to find new confidence and optimism about the future.

It also came after a period of great division in this country with the Brexit debate, culture wars and conflict over the conduct of the pandemic.

The English patriotism the team stirred in our hearts, so eloquently voiced by its impressive manager, has been a glue that has brought us back together in unity.

In his letter to the team, the Prime Minister rightly told them that they have inspired belief in the country. “You have forged a band of brothers whose energy and tenacity and teamwork – and sheer flair – seem to shine in everything you do,” he said.

Thankfully, Mr Johnson did not appear to have seen the memo banning reference by ministers to that famous Three Lions song in case it offended other countries, and echoed the wishes of us all when he urged the team to “bring it home!”

It has been a summer for songs from the terraces with Sweet Caroline echoing around Wembley.

But perhaps as we look forward hopefully to victory on the pitch and an end to restrictions to our lives it is an older musical favourite still sung on the Last Night of the Proms to the strains of Elgar which we need to remember.

Most people in England still view this country as a “land of hope and glory, mother of the free”.

We have faith in our football players and politicians to make that a reality again in the next 48 hours.