{"id":301686,"date":"2025-07-29T16:56:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T16:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/301686\/"},"modified":"2025-07-29T16:56:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T16:56:12","slug":"lionesses-hear-the-roar-65000-england-fans-celebrate-euros-win-in-london-england-womens-football-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/301686\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Lionesses hear the roar\u2019: 65,000 England fans celebrate Euros win in London | England women’s football team"},"content":{"rendered":"

They came in their tens of thousands, a sea of red and white pouring through Green Park to the Mall. Teenage boys with England<\/a> flags painted on their faces, little girls in their Saturday morning club kits, veteran fans of the women\u2019s game, new fans who just wanted to savour the moment.<\/p>\n

A total of 65,000 jubilant England fans lined the Mall in central London on Tuesday to welcome home the victorious Lionesses after their Euro 2025 victory<\/a> on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wanted to be part of history,\u201d said Joanne Rumsby, 58, an England flag over her shoulders and a red and white flower garland wrapped around her head. \u201cI saw them win at Wembley three years ago, but to see them win again was everything. It was elation, it was pride \u2013 it was just wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n

England\u2019s captain, Leah Williamson, lifts the trophy with her teammates. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth\/AP<\/p>\n

The England squad, who returned from Switzerland on Monday<\/a> after their victory over Spain the day before, were greeted by chants, cheers and more than a few tears.<\/p>\n

\u201cLionesses hear the roar,\u201d said the sign of one little girl. They could not fail to.<\/p>\n

From the top of the \u201cchampions\u201d-branded open-top bus they danced, waved and appeared to be having the time of their lives, before taking to the stage in front of the Queen Victoria Memorial outside Buckingham Palace.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been crying all the way down the Mall,\u201d said the team captain, Leah Williamson<\/a>, when handed a microphone by the former England player turned broadcaster Alex Scott. \u201cThis is unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williamson acknowledged that the team\u2019s second major tournament trophy had been won \u201cthe hard way\u201d \u2013 with last-minute equalisers, three consecutive spells of extra time and a series of nail-biting penalty shootouts.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything we do, obviously we do it for the team, but we do it for you, we do it for the country, we do it for young girls,\u201d she said. \u201cThank you so much for being with us. Stay with us. This story is not done yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listening to the team bask in accolades with a broad grin on her face was 49-year-old Beth Magee. She said she had scaled a wall separating VIPs from the crowds below, aided by her three teenage daughters Ella, Martha and Rosie.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never broken a rule in my life, but I made an exception to see this today,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen the police tried to move us I said to my daughters: \u2018I\u2019ll speak to them, girls, but we won\u2019t be moving.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"'it's‘it’s unbelievable’: Alexandra Topping from the Lioness parade through London \u2013 video <\/p>\n

Pointing to the team on stage, she added: \u201cThese women are such incredible role models \u2013 they are strong, healthy and smart and we are so proud of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Lionesses have been vocal about their desire to inspire the next generation of players, and the influence of their first Euros victory in 2022 was everywhere during the victory parade. In the season following that trophy, 1,500 new teams were registered<\/a> in England, with the number of girls and women playing the game increasing by more than 50%.<\/p>\n

Among them was 55-year-old Vivienne Avery. \u201cI literally started the week after they won,\u201d she said. \u201cI saw a course and I thought it\u2019s now or never. This team really have inspired all ages.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tens of thousands of jubilant England fans lined the Mall. Photograph: Sarah Lee\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Her daughter Ruby Davies, 20, said that when she was in her early teens in Southfields, south-west London<\/a>, she had struggled to find a local girls\u2019 team.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut now there are teams everywhere,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd winning twice \u2013 something that an England team has never done before \u2013 just means it\u2019s in everyone\u2019s faces now. The impact will be huge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just what it meant for the European champions was clear as they requested more songs after the end of the homecoming event.<\/p>\n

Some of the celebrating fans on the Mall. Photograph: David Levene\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

During the slightly unhinged, but entirely jubilant show \u2013 at one point Chloe Kelly caused an instant headache for live broadcasters by yelling \u201cIt\u2019s so fucking special!\u201d \u2013 the usually uber-controlled England manager, Sarina Wiegman<\/a>, danced with her favourite singer Burna Boy, who joined the squad on stage to sing For My Hand.<\/p>\n

Asked what she thought of fans singing Tequila by the Champs, with her name replacing Mexico\u2019s most-famous export, the Lionesses head coach gave a wry smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cVery innovative and funny, the English,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s in my head all the time now so thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked how the victory was different than in 2022, she said: \u201cWe kept having hope. It starts with talent, the bonding in this team made the absolute difference. Everybody was ready to support each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking out across the vast swathes of fans, England\u2019s talisman Lucy Bronze said the response to the victory had been amazing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis moment is unbelievable,\u201d she said, wearing her trademark skiing sunglasses and an England scarf wrapped around her head. \u201cObviously we did it three years ago but to come back to this is incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked how the party was after the final \u2013 which the England defender had played, she later revealed, with a fractured left tibia<\/a> \u2013 she deadpanned: \u201cI don\u2019t remember.\u201d<\/p>\n

The singer Burna Boy performs with Sarina Wiegman on stage. Photograph: Adam Davy\/Reuters<\/p>\n

With the show over and the final dances done, the fans started to leave past Buckingham Palace, the strains of Sweet Caroline and Daft Punk\u2019s One More Time \u2013 played as the team raised their trophy in a shower of ticker tape and red and white pyrotechnics \u2013 still ringing in their ears.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has made me want to play a lot more,\u201d said nine-year-old Eva Mummery, who had travelled from Gloucestershire with her friends from the Gotherington Jaguars under-11s. \u201cI want to get up to a higher level of football to hopefully bring home that trophy one day with all my amazing teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"They came in their tens of thousands, a sea of red and white pouring through Green Park to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":301687,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[13,12,14],"class_list":{"0":"post-301686","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-stories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114937580058158356","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301686\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/301687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}