LONDON: England’s hungover “Lionesses” held a victory party in central London on Monday in front of thousands of jubilant fans after they clinched the country’s first major football trophy since 1966.

A capacity crowd of 7,000 supporters packed into Trafalgar Square to give the women’s team a rapturous reception as they paraded the European championship trophy, following their 2-1 win over Germany on Sunday.

A tournament record crowd of 87,192 was at London’s Wembley Stadium to see the victory, and the BBC said more than 23 million viewers tuned in on television or online Sunday.

“We said we wanted to make our legacy about winning and that’s what we did,” England captain Leah Williamson told the flag-waving crowd in Trafalgar Square.

“The party’s not going to stop!” she added after her squad stayed up into the early hours celebrating.

“This team likes to work hard, but we definitely like to party harder.” Chloe Kelly, who scored the winner deep into extra-time, said she was “a bit worse for wear”.

“I ain’t stopped dancing!” British royals, political leaders, and football legends have all hailed the players’ game-changing exploits.

The men’s team failed last year to conquer Europe, falling short in the final to extend a winless streak stretching back to the 1966 World Cup, the only previous major trophy won by a men’s or women’s England senior team.

But above all, it highlighted the huge strides made in the women’s game in the country, where the Football Association (FA) banned women’s football for nearly 50 years in 1921.

Having twice fallen at the final hurdle, it proved to be third time lucky for England as the class of 2022’s memorable run throughout the tournament lifted spirits all around the country.

“The Championships and your performance in them have rightly won praise,” Britain’s Queen Elizabeth said in a letter to the Lionesses. “However, your success goes far beyond the trophy you have so deservedly earned.

“You have all set an example that will be an inspiration for girls and women today, and for future generations.” Sarina Wiegman’s team have been unstoppable as they scored a record 22 times during the tournament, including an impressive 4-0 thumping of second-ranked Sweden in the semi-finals.

“I think we really made a change. I think this tournament has done so much for the game but also for society and women in society in England but I also think in Europe and across the world and I hope that will make a (bigger) change too,” Wiegman told a news conference shortly after it had been interrupted by the team coming in, dancing and singing around her with a rowdy rendition of the England anthem “It’s coming home!” — the 1990s football song officially called “Three Lions”.

“These Lionesses have raised the bar. They have changed the way women’s football is viewed in this country,” former England International Alex Scott, who hosted the Trafalgar Square celebration, told BBC TV.

The previous day a similar number watching the final in Trafalgar Square had erupted with euphoria. Some people dived into its famous fountains, fittingly watched over by the square’s four lion statues.

David Baddiel, who recorded it with fellow comedian Frank Skinner and pop group Lightning Seeds for the men’s Euro 1996 tournament, said the Lionesses had helped redefine the sport.

“Football is not by default owned by men,” he told BBC radio.

“It’s the same game, played by women or played by men.

“And what’s totally brilliant in the last sort of few weeks is the sense that the country can get behind it in entirely the same way.”

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2022