
Lionesses enjoy late-night Euros celebrations in London ahead of Mall parade
The Lionesses and their head coach Sarina Wiegman will make their way along The Mall near Buckingham Palace just after midday, before a trophy ceremony at the Queen Victoria Memorial in front of the palace.
Members of the squad were pictured arriving by taxi in groups for celebrations at the Little Italy restaurant in Soho on Monday evening.
The team sported more casual wear for the gathering after earlier attending a reception at Downing Street, hosted by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and sports minister Stephanie Peacock.
Mark Bullingham, chief executive of the Football Association (FA), said: 'We are so proud of all of the players, Sarina and the support team who have all been part of this incredible achievement.
'They have all worked unbelievably hard and we know the nation shares our pride.
Sarina Wiegman takes a selfie with some of her team in the garden of Number 10 (Richard Pohle/The Times/PA)
'The victory celebration in London on Tuesday will give England fans an opportunity to celebrate with the players, and be part of history.
'We've had amazing support from our fans both in Switzerland and at home throughout the tournament, and we look forward to celebrating together and creating some lifelong memories.'
The celebrations on home soil began on Monday afternoon when the team landed at Southend Airport in Essex.
Hundreds of fans waited patiently to catch a glimpse of Wiegman's side and the trophy, which captain Leah Williamson held up in front of jubilant crowds.
England fans erupted into cheers when the Lionesses left Southend Airport, with captain Leah Williamson holding the trophy (Yui Mok/PA)
Number 10 was decorated for the occasion, with St George's flags draped over windows and bunting along the railings.
Wiegman and some of her Lionesses spoke to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer via video call from the garden of No 10.
The Dutchwoman said 'Hello Keir, nice to see you', adding 'it's lovely here'.
Sir Keir said: 'Fantastic to see you all and welcome to Downing Street. I just wanted to say a huge, huge congratulations to you and to the whole team.
'It was an absolutely amazing victory and you must've felt the eyes and ears of the whole country on you last night.'
At the reception, Wiegman congratulated her team and called for more investment in the women's game, saying: 'The team is just incredible, we won the Euros but making the final, we're already legendary, what the team has done and the team behind the team.'
Speaking a few hours before the Government announced a new package of measures to boost access to grassroots football, she added: 'This incredible team won the Euros and then straightaway sent a letter to you, the Government, asking for attention and asking for access to football for all girls.
'Steps have been taken but we're not done yet, we have to keep moving forward and we need a little bit more.'
In a post shared on X on Monday evening, Ms Rayner described the Lionesses as 'absolute legends', adding: 'So proud of what they've done for women's football and representing England with such brilliance.
'Let the celebrations continue!!'
On Monday night, the Government announced plans for priority access to grassroots football pitches for girls and women to be more than doubled over the next five years to meet the expected increased demand after the Lionesses' dramatic win.
England forward Chloe Kelly at Downing Street on Monday evening (Richard Pohle/The Times/PA)
As well as the Prime Minister, the King also congratulated the European champions, saying in a statement posted on X: 'You have shown through your example over past weeks that there are no setbacks so tough that defeat cannot be transformed into victory, even as the final whistle looms.
'Well done, Lionesses.'
The Prince of Wales was spotted in the stands in Basel on Sunday applauding with those around him, including Princess Charlotte, and royal celebrations could continue as a trip to Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle may be arranged for the team as plans for a reception in the autumn are being explored by royal aides, it is understood.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


BBC News
30 minutes ago
- BBC News
'Let them try' - Laird happy Birmingham are targets
"Let them try. It's something that's always going to happen when a club has a buzz about them."Ethan Laird was in bullish mood - buzzing, even - as he looked forward to the start of the Championship season and the prospect of Birmingham City strutting their stuff in a week's time with large metaphorical targets on their there is a strut to Blues - a justified one - given the way they swept to the League One title last season in a record-breaking cruise with 34 wins and 111 targets will be there because of not only what the players have done on the pitch, but what the club are doing off rich owners Knighthead are bankrolling a charge to the Premier League along with a regeneration of the city's sporting are not messing about. Premier League ambitions As a result, the club's profile has gone through the roof and will only be pumped higher by their Amazon Prime documentary series, fronted by NFL legend and minority investor Tom Brady, which airs on is hard to think of a Championship club that has demanded more eyeballs on them in recent years. Defender Laird, who is used to life in the goldfish bowl of scrutiny having come through the youth system to play for Manchester United, says the chatter around Blues is understandable."I believe there's a difference between hype and buzz," he told BBC Midlands Today."Hype is around clubs where things could happen, buzz is because something is actually happening."And that why other clubs and fans are saying things - but that's part of football and we love it."When Sir Alex Ferguson took over success-starved Manchester United in 1986, he said knocking dominant rivals Liverpool "off their perch" was his ultimate driving force. Although Birmingham's perch is not as lofty as the Reds' was then, or now, Laird understands their league rivals will echo Ferguson's sentiment. "It's almost like fuel for us," he said."Because what Birmingham is made out of is a lot of heart and when we go out on to the pitch, it's 100% pedal to the metal."To be honest, it's not going to affect us because it's opinions and opinions are thrown everywhere - someone says something good and someone says something bad. "We all have a goal here. We want to be in the Premier League. "It's a matter of when, not if, and we're all driven - we're all wishing to be there and we're all working hard to be there." 'We want an amazing season' A return to the top flight is the number one priority of chairman Tom Wagner and one player in the Blues ranks who is arguably the posterboy of that ambition is striker Jay broke the League One transfer record to sign the England Under-21 international from Fulham and he repaid that faith by spearheading their promotion with 19 who scored 12 times during a season-long loan from the Cottagers when Blues were relegated from the Championship two years ago, says having such ambitious owners is an inspiration."Every young footballer wants to be a Premier League footballer so to be in a club where the owner's really ambitious to do that is special," Stansfield said."It gives us that extra drive to get to where they want to be."As players you want to do your best for them - they've backed you and showed faith and you want to give that back to them and the fans by giving them an amazing season."That campaign starts next Friday when they host the last team to go back-to-back from League One to the Premier League, Ipswich Town."Hopefully we'll be up there but, we've said many times, we're not getting ahead of ourselves," Stansfield added."Last season wasn't easy. We came though it in the end and did very well."But the season before we were relegated - the Championship's very hard, there are some very good teams coming down from the Premier League."It'll be a good benchmark to see whether we can challenge the best teams."


Telegraph
30 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Spurs agree Palhinha deal: Why it is more important than signing Gibbs-White
Tottenham Hotspur have agreed a deal to sign midfielder Joao Palhinha on loan from Bayern Munich for the season. Palhinha's first appearance for Spurs could even come against his parent club, with the London club set to play Bayern in a pre-season friendly in Munich next Thursday. The signing of Palhinha may not induce the excitement that news of Spurs' ultimately unsuccessful bid for Morgan Gibbs-White provoked, but it is potentially more important. Here is why Palhinha, at least in the short term, will solve more issues for his new club than Gibbs-White would have done. Problem position filled While Gibbs-White would have undoubtedly been an excellent signing for Tottenham and Thomas Frank's squad would clearly benefit from the addition of another attacking midfielder, it is a natural defensive midfielder that the squad really lacked. James Maddison is a more than capable option in the number 10 position, while Lucas Bergvall can play there. Frank will also have Dejan Kulusevski to pick from once the Swede returns to fitness. Tottenham are open to selling Yves Bissouma, who has often had to play as the most defensive of Tottenham's midfielders. This is not Bissouma's natural role and he lacks the consistency to be relied on throughout the season. In Palhinha, Spurs now have a natural number six who can give Rodrigo Bentancur more time on the ball and free up more attacking talents such as Maddison, Bergvall and Kulusevski to go forward. In a team full of players who thrive with the ball, much of Palhinha's best work comes off it. Experience Frank's predecessor Ange Postecoglou made it clear last season that Tottenham's squad was lacking in experience. Signing a 30-year-old represents a slight change of approach from a club who have focused predominantly on youth in recent years, and it should help the rest of the squad. Gibbs-White certainly has experience that would have benefited the Tottenham team, but Palhinha is five years older, has big-club experience from his spell at Bayern and enjoyed two successful seasons in the Premier League with Fulham. An older head in the middle of the park is just what Spurs needed and the Portuguese international will be just as useful off the pitch as he should be on it. Set-piece help Tottenham are not a small team by any means, but they have occasionally struggled with defending set-pieces. Palhinha should be able to help with that. Standing at just over 6ft 2in the Portugal international will not only help to stop balls over the top, but should also give assistance to Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero in defending corners and free-kicks. Gibbs-White would have given Tottenham another option in the taking of set-pieces, but Pedro Porro can already provide excellent deliveries, while Maddison is also a corner and free-kick specialist. Backing for Frank Signing a 30-year-old, even on loan, is not a decision that chairman Daniel Levy would have taken lightly. It goes against his recent policy of going for youth and offers the club little in terms of long-term security. But, crucially, it represents backing and support for the new head coach. Frank clearly wanted a player of Palhinha's profile, having made midfielder Christian Norgaard an integral part of his Brentford team. Norgaard moved to Arsenal this summer and it is claimed Mikel Arteta's side looked at Palhinha themselves before completing that deal. Frank will need as much backing and support as possible if he is to make a success of his first season in charge at Spurs and it is encouraging that Levy has been prepared to deviate from the norm to do so. And another thing… Tottenham and Bayern have become trading buddies over recent years with Harry Kane and Eric Dier moving to Germany and Mathys Tel and now Palhinha coming in the opposite direction. Spurs have a first-option clause to re-sign Kane at any point Bayern decide to sell him and if the player indicates a desire to leave. Sources are already discussing the possibility of Kane returning to England and the Premier League next summer, after the World Cup, so does that open the door to an emotional Spurs comeback in 12 months? Time will tell, but it is clear that Tottenham and Bayern enjoy doing mutually beneficial business.


BBC News
30 minutes ago
- BBC News
Northampton sign teen Man Utd striker Wheatley on loan
Manchester United teenager Ethan Wheatley has joined League One side Northampton Town on a season-long 19-year-old striker had a loan spell in League Two with Walsall last term, but featured only four times for the made three Premier League appearances off the bench for the Red Devils in the 2023-24 season, but his solitary first-team game for Manchester United last term came in their 5-2 Carabao Cup win against Leicester went on to feature for England at the Under-19 European Championships in the summer, scoring two goals in three appearances."He has played in the Premier League for Manchester United at the age of 18 and you don't do that without having a lot of ability," Northampton boss Kevin Nolan told the club website., external"I have seen enough of him to know what he is all about, what his attributes are and to believe that he can come in and be a good addition for us."