My latest zine It’s Coming Home is a story of high hopes and dreams as the England team progressed through Euro 2020 to its first final in a major tournament in 55 years. Comprised of photographs taken at Wembley at the semi-finals and the final, the zine takes you into the heart of the euphoric atmosphere of pre-match fan zones.
It includes an Afterword by my friend Christabel Rose Brown, who provides her personal perspective of Euro 2020, touches on the ugly side of the Beautiful Game in the form of social media abuse after the final but ends with a hopeful exhortation.
The 2020 UEFA European Championship, or simply Euro 2020, took place between 11 June and 11 July 2021, a year late because of COVID. The event was hosted over 11 countries with the semi-finals and final taking place at Wembley Stadium in London.
Those of you in England will remember the event: the excitement and hopes of the country as England progressed through the rounds, exorcising its ghosts and forging ahead to a date with destiny, as refrains of “Football’s Coming Home” became ubiquitous on the streets, TV and the airwaves.
Since the semis and final were held at Wembley - and there was a chance that football could come home - I wanted to capture what could be a historic moment. I didn’t know what to expect and I was a bit nervous on my first trip (the semi-final between Italy and Spain). I was hoping that I wouldn’t stumble into the middle of scenes like this:
Football hooliganism
Thankfully, I didn’t. Football supporters have moved on. These days they are more likely to be part of the prawn sandwich brigade. Prawn sandwiches I can handle.
The crowd was generally well-behaved at Wembley and the police did a great job keeping order. There was some trouble at the final when some people with no tickets stormed the stadium (as reported in the news. I didn’t see it myself) but the situation was very quickly brought under control.
I am glad I pushed myself to go. The atmosphere at the England games was electric. There was an outburst of joy and optimism and there was a sense of camaraderie and unity. People were enjoying themselves after months of lockdown from the pandemic.
As England progressed through the tournament, we got to hear more and more of that now iconic football anthem Football’s Coming Home. (at least in England). Enjoy a taste of it below.
For those of you who like to read your zine in mood lighting with a glass of wine, here is a choral rendition by the Canterbury Cathedral Choristers.
Maybe you don’t even need the zine.
If you are looking for a flavour of what it was like to be at pre-match Wembley at the semis and final, here is a selection of England football chants for that additional immersive experience. ‘Southgate You’re The One’ is a particularly catchy tune based off the Atomic Kitten song.
Football united the country in a way I haven’t seen before. Sports in general can do that. After all that England (and the UK) have gone through in recent years - Brexit, COVID lockdowns - it was sorely in need of something to bring people together. Euro 2020 and the England team’s progress through it provided that.
Here is what it looks like. This was on the bus when news came through that Luke Shaw had scored the opening goal for England in the second minute of the final.
The couple asked the man on the left, a total stranger, to come and have his picture taken with them. I myself was a stranger to the couple.
Celebrating Luke Shaw’s goal. I could never have imagined myself taking photos like this on a bus. Football truly broke down barriers and brought people together.
For all the positives that football brought, its dark side surfaced in the aftermath of the final: three black players received racist social media abuse when they didn’t convert their penalties. This is covered in the Afterword by Christabel Rose Brown. I felt it was an important point to cover. Christabel had written an Instagram post on this issue the day after the final, with an exhortation to go above it. It left such an impression on me that when I came to do the zine, I asked her to write something for it.
The zine is available at the SHOP here.
Football’s coming home. It’s just taking a slight detour.