Monday 11th July
It was the Lionesses second game day in Brighton and I headed south at lunchtime. As the hotels in Brighton were very expensive, I decided to stay in Haywards Heath. After dropping my bag off at the hotel, I arrived in Brighton at about 3:30 and headed down the road to the seafront. Along the way, there were quite a few Euro’s banners up.
The Free Lionesses Fan Embassy was at the Tempest Inn which is right by the sea. With clear blue skies and warm temperatures, it could have been Nice rather than Brighton! There I caught up with Jess, who I had met at the World Cup in France in 2019. I also got a free ‘tweets on scarves’ scarf.
As the ground at Brighton is a bit out from the city, getting a train was the best way for me to get there. It seemed a bit disorganised at the station as to where to queue but I got a train fairly quickly and was at the stadium by about 6. The train after that one broke down and caused delays and queues snaking around Brighton station later on.
My seat was in the top tier of one of the stands again so there were a lot of steps to climb but I had a good view. The concourse area felt like a greenhouse after the sun had been shining in through the windows all afternoon. I saw Jess again (not the one from earlier today but the one from Friday) and her dad and we had a chat this time! I also had a good view of Gabby Logan, Ian Wright, Alex Scott and Jonas Eidevall in the TV presentation area.
I was expecting it to be a difficult game against Norway but England blew them apart with some sensational play, winning 8-0! Beth Mead scored a hat-trick, Ellen White scored two, Georgia Stanway, Lauren Hemp (after a VAR check) and Alessia Russo scored the others. There was an amazing atmosphere with “Its Coming Home” being sang a few times during the match by most of the 28,847 fans.
After seeing the players do their lap of the pitch, I joined the queue at Falmer station for the train back to Brighton. It seemed disorganised again with not many people about telling you were to queue so there was just one mass of people instead. I eventually got a train at 11:15 and after changing trains in Brighton, I was back at my hotel at 12:30am! Maybe I should get a train to Lewes and back next time?!
Tuesday 12th July
I decided to go straight from Haywards Heath to Milton Keynes for today’s match between Denmark and Finland. On my way, I left my bag at a left luggage place at Euston station. The fan park was in a square over the road from the station and there was a nice mix of Danish and Finnish fans along with a few people wearing Sweden shirts. I also saw Chris again and had a catch up with him.
I bought a ticket for the shuttle bus from the bus station next to the fan park to near the stadium. The bus journey took about 10 minutes and then it was a 10 minute walk but there were lots of volunteers and signs pointing you in the right direction. After having mainly hot dogs and burgers to eat at matches, at Stadium MK they do small pizzas so I had one of those as something a bit different.
Denmark won 1-0 thanks to Pernille Harder’s header during the second half. Both goalkeepers made some good saves. A good atmosphere again with the Danish fans being very noisy. There seemed to be a lot of school groups at this match too (my first 5pm kick off so not sure if it was the same for all at that time). After being cloudy for most of the day, it rained during the second half which meant those sat near the front moving further back to keep dry.
After the match and the 10 minute walk back to the buses, I was straight on one and back at the station by 7:30. On the train back I had a chat to a Danish family who had come over for a couple of the matches and how it was their first time in the UK. After picking my bag up, I was home by 9:30 and managed to catch the end of the Germany v Spain match on the telly.
Wednesday 13th July
With Sweden v Switzerland kicking off in Sheffield at 5pm, it meant I could do this one as a day trip from London. I got the train at 11:30am and was surrounded on it by Sweden fans. Some I had a chat with had flown over just for this match! I was in Sheffield by 2pm and headed to the fan park there again. On another sunny and warm day, Division Street had again been taken over by the Swedes whilst in the park there was a mixture of fans again.
Close to the stadium, there was a band playing close to it providing some entertainment for fans. I also saw a Switzerland fan walking along with a cow bell! The Swedish had their fan walk to the ground lead by a drummer with their supporters chanting and waving flags.
I was sat in the John Street stand this time and there was a lot more leg room than in The Kop. I was sat near the main group of Sweden supporters and they sang and chanted the whole game, with a lady walking along the front of the stand with a megaphone leading them. This was the best atmosphere I have ever experienced at a football match (women’s or men’s). I saw a couple of friends at this match. Jess again (third time so far) before the match and Josh at half time.
Sweden won 2-1 with Rolfo giving them the lead after the break. Switzerland quickly equalised when Bachmann scored. Bennison scored the winner with a cracking strike with about 10 minutes left. There was still time for Sweden to have two goals disallowed before the final whistle went.
I was back at the station with some time to spare before my train at 7:40pm. After no delays, I was home in north London at 10:35pm after a really good day. I was pleased to have the following day off going to football after getting some blisters on my toes after doing a lot of walking the previous couple of days.
Thursday 14th July
This was a catch up day at home with some admin, emails, shopping, hoovering, cleaning and washing to do. I watched the two matches on the telly with Italy and Iceland drawing 1-1, and France winning 2-1 against Belgium. These results meant that France won the group and qualified for the quarter-finals. It was an early night for me after that with four matches over the next four days planned to go to.
Written by Paul Donegan (@PaulDonegan1980 on Twitter and Instagram)
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