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Let’s Bring it Home!

Ilina Kabra

A Culmination of 55 Years of Hard Work to Get to the Euro 2020 Final for England: A Celebration Gone Wrong

Wembley Stadium, Sunday, 11th July 2021 - Crowds of England football fans cheering can be heard echoing around Wembley, as Bukayo Saka steps up to take the fifth penalty in the Euro 2020 Final against Italy. He runs, shoots, his foot connecting with the ball, and looks utterly heartbroken as Gianluigi Donnarumma saves the penalty. The goalkeeper diving to his left to whack the ball away from the goal, crowning Italy as the Euro 2020 Champions. With Saka’s miss happening moments after Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho both missed their penalties; England lost the shoot-out in the Final.

In The Rolling Stones’ song, ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’, frontman Mick Jagger sings, “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, well, you might find, you get what you need”. England did not end up getting what they wanted, but the tournament got them what they needed—a celebration after the disastrous COVID-19 pandemic!

The Euros symbolised hope and normality in these strange times. The success of the Three Lions was the high point of the last two years for some England fans. Scenes of jubilation occurred in every city in the country. As England secured a place in the final, sealing a tough 2–1 win against Denmark, fans of all races, ethnicities, genders, sexualities, and identities crowded the streets and celebrated in pubs, bars and at home up and down the country. Beers flying through the air the moment a goal was scored, chants of “it’s coming home” and “Sweet Caroline” as England moved one step closer to sealing a place in history. With England fans around the world hailing the players as heroes, the win brought England a moment of joy and a celebration that was desperately needed.

CELEBRATION TURNED TO CHAOS

However, hidden behind the celebrations of each match England won were elements of nationalistic pride and rowdy hooliganism, which frequently turned violent and racist. The detestable behaviour by home fans, however, was not heard over the noise that this was thefurthest England had got in a major football tournament since the 1966 World Cup.

Directly after losing the final, black players in the England team were subject to a storm of online racist abuse. After missing penalties, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, and Bukayo Saka were the targets of abuse on social media: their accounts being bombarded with racial slurs and monkey emojis. This sparked national outrage from players, managers, clubs, pundits and politicians around the UK and the world.

Footballers in the Premier League have taken a strong stance on racism by taking the knee as a “symbol of unity against all forms of racism” since June 2020. Both in qualifying games and during the European Championships, England players took the knee for anti-racism, sending a strong message in support of the Black Lives Matter campaign.

The knee - a symbol of unity against all forms of racism

Taking the knee had been a controversial topic in the build up to the Euros. In June 2021, the UK Home Secretary, Priti Patel, called taking the knee “gesture politics”, arguing that fans booing the gesture was a choice. She was then criticised by footballer Tyrone Mings following her words about the Euro 2020 Final when she stated on Twitter that she was “disgusted by the racist abuse on social media”. He replied, tweeting: “You don’t get to stoke the fire at the beginning of the tournament by labelling our anti-racism message as ‘Gesture Politics’ & then pretend to be disgusted when the very thing we’re campaigning against, happens”.

Influential figures deserve kindness and respect, not racism

It’s important to remember what Gareth Southgate achieved throughout the Euros. He has created an atmosphere in the national team where the club that one plays for does not matter once you represent your country. There is a sense that he has selected his players based on their ability and skill, not based on their club.

England made incredible, praiseworthy achievements during the tournament. They scored 11 goals and conceded only 2, and the team defeated Germany for the first time since 1966 in a major tournament knockout game. Although England could not cross the finish line this time, The Three Lions did the country proud and the accomplishments of the squad at Euro 2020 are historic and deserve to be celebrated. They brought people together and have inspired future generations.

Italy may have won the physical trophy, but England won something even better. A team that will go on to perform in many tournaments to come. A squad with kindness.