Kelly to frame the world’s most famous sports bra
European champions can’t stop moving their feet as they dance all through the night and into trophy event
‘I was told if you want to play you’ve got to play with the boys. So I’d go to the park and play with them while wearing a dress’
CHLOE KELLY didn’t plan on whipping her shirt off on Sunday night – she could certainly never have predicted her goal celebration would become one of the defining images of the championship.
It was a moment of pure glee that came over her “in the moment” in the final few minutes of a history-making match. “You don’t expect it to happen so I just went mental to be honest,” the 24-year-old said yesterday.
Only appropriate, then, that the sports bra that went around the world should be celebrated in its own right – Kelly plans to frame it, but not before getting a few more hours of celebrating under her belt.
Winning suits the Lionesses. After 120 minutes of gritty, hard-won football and an afterparty that went on until 4am, you could have forgiven them for being a little lacking in energy yesterday. In fact, they seemed in brighter form than ever; they couldn’t stop dancing.
There might have been the odd pair of dark glasses hiding richly deserved hangovers and a few hoarse voices, but as they filled the stage in Trafalgar Square yesterday to lift their trophy once more and lead the crowd in another rendition of Sweet Caroline, the unbridled joy of England’s women was infectious – the delirious smiles on the faces of Millie Bright, Lucy Bronze, Georgia Stanway and the rest unforgettable.
“This team likes to work hard, but we definitely like to party harder,” said captain Leah Williamson, looking happy and exhausted, sporting a red three lions bucket hat, with a flag that simply had the word “Home” blazed across it slung around her like a toga.
Goalkeeper Mary Earps had given a hint at the mood in the Lensbury Hotel that morning, tweeting: “Dancing on the ceiling and jumping (on tables) for joy. Good morning, we’re champions of Europe.”
Outside the hotel in Teddington, there was little sign of the Lionesses until 8am when the players’ families began loading presents into cars.
David Williamson, proud father of captain Leah, 25, said the atmosphere the night before had been “amazing… the girls were obviously enjoying it, just fantastic really”.
His daughter struggled to lift the trophy above her head when she emerged from the hotel to cheers from waiting fans, but seemed to have regained her strength by the time the team paraded onto Trafalgar Square.
At times, the Euro celebrations resembled a mass karaoke session.
From the moment the final whistle blew on Sunday night, the Lionesses became the stars of a great nationwide party. Within minutes of winning, they were leading the crowd at Wembley (and millions more watching at home) in all those songs that have become synonymous with England football.
The post-match press conference will forever be remembered for the moment the team stormed the room singing “It’s coming home”, did a conga around their manager, Sarina Wiegman, and danced on the table.
And it was clear from the clips being posted on social media from the changing room, the bus back from the ground, the hotel car park, that the singing and dancing would not be stopping any time soon.
Yesterday they were still going. “I ain’t stopped dancing,” said Kelly to the delight of the crowd at Trafalgar Square. “My feet just keep going.”
After the obligatory Neil Diamond, forward Rachel Daly took hold of the microphone, taking a turn with a performance of Tina Turner’s River Deep, Mountain High, her teammates acting as backing singers behind her.
They were just the sort of unapologetically joyful scenes that have characterised this past month of watching England’s women win and keep winning.
The crowd was just as elated as the players. Charlotte Glaister, 15, was at the final on Sunday. “I went mental at the first goal. Then when Germany scored I thought: ‘oh here we go, it’s going to be penalties’. After the second goal I couldn’t speak for a long time.”
She added: “It was surreal this morning seeing it again on television and thinking ‘I was there’. It meant the world. It just proved that women can do football the same as anyone.”
Williamson told the crowd she had barely been able to stop crying since Sunday’s win. Emotions were running just as high among the fans watching.
Leah Johnson, 60, began welling up as she queued to get onto the square on Monday morning, as chants of “It’s coming home” spread through the crowd. She knows just how hard-won yesterday’s jubilant scenes were.
“I was told if you want to play you’ve got to play with the boys,” she said. “So I’d go to the park and play with them while wearing a dress. I used to come back with holes in it and scuffed knees.
“I was given my first football kit aged 10, but it was a boy’s kit, the Arsenal men. That’s why it was such a lovely moment last night.”
For now, there is more celebrating to be done, though of a more private nature, back at home with friends and family.
Chloe Kelly is getting a puppy on Friday – a post-euros present to herself. Ella Toone’s thoughts had turned to her upcoming holiday in Ibiza not long after the final, though she needs desperately to get her lashes sorted before she gets on a plane.
“I got them done and they fell out … it’s a nightmare,” she said. “I’m actually really gutted. I’m off to Ibiza tomorrow – [I need to] get home, get my lashes done.”
It remains to be seen whether Ibiza’s partygoers can keep up with an English Lioness when she has just become
champion of Europe.