BUCKINGHAM PALACE — Little did we know it was in fact Burna Boy inspiring Sarina Wiegman on the way to her third European Championship.
The England boss has led her side to back-to-back trophies after doing it once with the Netherlands, but I defy anyone to see her as excited as when the rapper came on stage at the Lionesses’ homecoming on the streets of London.
More than 65,000 people took to The Mall leading up to Buckingham Palace.
For perspective, the event was capped at 7,000 in Trafalgar Square three years ago. English football has never seen anything like it.
Chloe Kelly was one of the players not too hungover to take the microphone and, after host Alex Scott had apologised for her screaming the F-word in front of thousands of children, she made a point of praising England’s “team behind the team”.
“Pressure, what pressure?!” Kelly said.
“So glad to stand side by side with each one of these girls throughout the tournament, and the staff that you don’t see behind the scenes – it’s incredible.”
Leah Williamson made the same point after the final in Basel.
The Lionesses welcomed their backroom staff onto the stage at the parade, with England legend Scott describing them as “the heroes who maybe you don’t know about, but what an incredible job they do”.
www.instagram.com/p/DMm0xUWNCiB/Chief among their support network in Switzerland was Reggie, a cavapoo belonging to the team’s barista James Cheal.
Keira Walsh refers to him as “the coffee dog”. There is a serious point here – the baristas, chefs and nutritionist were key to England players winding down after high-pressure games.
The Dolder Grand hotel in Zurich hosted the team for the majority of the tournament and staff wrote players good luck messages when they first arrived, making sure they had places to play Monopoly Deal and first-class gym facilities.
The FA took an army of staff to assist, from Stuart Birch, the team’s performance chef, to those operating the cryotherapy chamber which uses liquid nitrogen to freeze muscle tissue and aid recovery.
There are the team doctors, led by Ritan Mehta, the lead psychologist Kate Hays, and the general manager, Anja van Ginhoven, who deals with so much of the logistics behind the scenes.
Proud pic.twitter.com/7DESnox9pV
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) July 29, 2025Alongside Wiegman is her right-hand man Arjan Veurink, who now departs for the Netherlands’ head coach role, and goalkeeping coach Darren Ward, as well as transition coach Geraint Twose. Gavin Step has come in to fill the void left by long-term technical director Kay Cossington.
Plenty of others behind the scenes are rarely mentioned but deserve their flowers – especially those who have come before.
The original Lionesses, who first played for the national side after the ban on women’s football was lifted in 1971. Hope Powell, who transformed the game in this country. Kerry Davis, the first black Lioness. The grassroots coaches and volunteers everywhere who work free of charge to give girls access to football.
Then there are the players who did not feature – Khiara Keating, Anna Moorhouse, Maya Le Tissier, Lotte Wubben-Moy – but who were instrumental in training and keeping spirits high in camp.
Before every major tournament, Wiegman sits each individual down to tell them what their role is going to be – whether she seems them as starters or, as she likes to call them, “finishers”, rather than substitutes. Kelly and Michelle Agyemang showed exactly why that is.
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It was fitting that there was not one, but two buses parading past the Queen Victoria Memorial on Tuesday.
The other made room for all the staff who had been central to what should have been an unforgettable two-day party.
And it was for most of them, except for Lucy Bronze. Through dark glasses, she was asked how the celebrations had gone: “Don’t remember.”
“I’ve been crying all the way down the Mall, this is unbelievable,” Williamson said.
“This is probably one of the best things we’ve ever been a part of. Everything we do, obviously we do it for us and our team but we do it for the country, we do it for young girls.
“This job never existed 30, 40 years ago and we’re making history every single step.”
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