‘Lionesses hear the roar’: 65,000 England fans celebrate Euros win in London | OneFootball

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

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 on Sunday.

“I just wanted to be part of history,” said Joanne Rumsby, 58, an England flag over her shoulders and a red and white flower garland wrapped around her head. “I saw them win at Wembley three years ago, but to see them win again was everything. It was elation, it was pride – it was just wonderful.”

The England squad, who returned from Switzerland on Monday after their second successive Euros victory, were greeted by chants, cheers and more than a few tears.

“Lionesses hear the roar,” said the sign of one little girl. They could not fail to.

From the top of the “champions”-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.

“I’ve been crying all the way down the Mall,” said the team captain, Leah Williamson, when handed a microphone by the former England player turned broadcaster Alex Scott. “This is unbelievable.”

Williamson acknowledged that the team’s second major tournament trophy had been won “the hard way” – with last-minute equalisers, three consecutive spells of extra time and a series of nail-biting penalty shootouts.

“Everything 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,” she said. “Thank you so much for being with us. Stay with us. This story is not done yet.”

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.

“I’ve never broken a rule in my life, but I made an exception to see this today,” she said. “When the police tried to move us I said to my daughters: ‘I’ll speak to them, girls, but we won’t be moving.’”

Pointing to the team on stage, she added: “These women are such incredible role models – they are strong, healthy and smart and we are so proud of them.”

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 in England, with the number of girls and women playing the game increasing by more than 50%.

Among them was 55-year-old Vivienne Avery. “I literally started the week after they won,” she said. “I saw a course and I thought it’s now or never. This team really have inspired all ages.”

Her daughter Ruby Davies, 20, said that when she was in her early teens in Southfields, south-west London, she had struggled to find a local girls’ team.

“But now there are teams everywhere,” she said. “And winning twice – something that an England team has never done before – just means it’s in everyone’s faces now. The impact will be huge.”

Just what it meant for the European champions was clear as they requested more songs after the end of the homecoming event.

During the slightly unhinged, but entirely jubilant show – at one point Chloe Kelly caused an instant headache for live broadcasters by yelling “It’s so fucking special!” – the usually uber-controlled England manager, Sarina Wiegman, danced with her favourite singer Burna Boy, who joined the squad on stage to sing For My Hand.

Asked what she thought of fans singing Tequila by the Champs, with her name replacing Mexico’s most-famous export, the Lionesses head coach gave a wry smile.

“Very innovative and funny, the English,” she said. “It’s in my head all the time now so thank you.”

Asked how the victory was different than in 2022, she said: “We kept having hope. It starts with talent, the bonding in this team made the absolute difference. Everybody was ready to support each other.”

Looking out across the vast swathes of fans, England’s talisman Lucy Bronze said the response to the victory had been amazing.

“This moment is unbelievable,” she said, wearing her trademark skiing sunglasses and an England scarf wrapped around her head. “Obviously we did it three years ago but to come back to this is incredible.”

Asked how the party was after the final – which the England defender had played, she later revealed, with a fractured left tibia – she deadpanned: “I don’t remember.”

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’s One More Time – played as the team raised their trophy in a shower of ticker tape and red and white pyrotechnics – still ringing in their ears.

“It has made me want to play a lot more,” said nine-year-old Eva Mummery, who had travelled from Gloucestershire with her friends from the Gotherington Jaguars under-11s. “I want to get up to a higher level of football to hopefully bring home that trophy one day with all my amazing teammates.”

Header image: [Photograph: Adam Davy/PA]