England have celebrated a “special” UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 title with a victory parade on The Mall, London.
Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses landed back in the UK at Southend Airport and attended a private reception at 10 Downing Street hosted by Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner yesterday (28 July), ahead of a public victory parade on The Mall in front of thousands of fans.
The parade culminated in an on-stage celebration with interviews with key players, including England’s penalty shootout hero against Spain in the final, Chloe Kelly who thanked fans for turning out for the occasion as she spoke of her pride at a “special” title defence.
“It’s so special. This medal is so special. Everyone knows exactly what it takes to win it. But it’s so hard to win. Sarina has done it so many times. It’s so special. I’m so proud to be English.”
Captain, Leah Williamson held back her tears as she described the event as one of the best activities that she has undertaken, whilst reflecting upon the fact that the team put the nation through the wringer unlike in 2022.
“I’m holding back tears. I’ve been crying all the way down The Mall. This is unbelievable. Probably one of the best things we’ve been a part of. Thank you for coming out.
“There are loads of ways to win a football match. We repeatedly did it the hard way. But you can see how much we care about playing for England and how much we love it.
“2022 was a fairytale. This feels really hard-earned. We’re really proud of ourselves.”
Williamson proceeded to acknowledge that their opening defeat to France “rocked” the team but iterated that their aim is to keep creating history for future generations.
“The first game nearly rocked us a little bit. There are just special, special moments. We look after each other. Tough moments but off the pitch, some nasty things to deal with. But we’ve got each others backs. We rise.
“My message is, everything we do, obviously we do some things for ourselves and the team, we do it for the country, we do it for young girls. This job never existed 30 years ago. We’re making history with everything we do.”
Wiegman even danced with singer, Burna Boy during the celebrations before she spoke to host and ex Lioness, Alex Scott as she iterated that she hadn’t anticipated such an emotional rollercoaster as she quipped that the squad failed to obey a promise to have a smooth campaign.
“It was chaos. I hoped for a little less chaos, but the players didn’t keep their promise to finish things quicker. We always had a plan and the players were trying to execute that on the pitch. We kept our hope and belief. We just showed up when it was really necessary and urgent.”
Wiegman also discussed her title-winning squad which defied the retirements of Mary Earps and Fran Kirby plus defender, Millie Bright’s absence for personal reasons, as she pointed to the bond as the crucial element of their successful tournament.
“There is a huge pool of talent in this team. We want to play to our strengths always. The bonding of this team in this tournament made the absolute difference. Everybody was ready to step up and support each other. It was just amazing to be a part of.”
Goalkeeper, Hannah Hampton saved eight penalties across shootouts against Sweden and Spain in the knockout stages despite suffering from an eye condition – Strabismus which affects depth perception, and the 24-year-old praised her teammates for their efforts.
“Just do whatever I can for the team. They’ve ran for 120 minutes, I just stand in the 18-yard box.
“They’ve got me through the whole tournament when it didn’t start off the way I wanted it to. They just kept be going. To be standing right now with this group of girls is amazing.”
Hampton also urged fans to defy those who tell them that they can’t achieve their dreams for various reasons.
“Don’t let people tell you what you can and can’t do. If you’ve got a dream you can go out and do it. I got told so many times that I’m not good enough, that I shouldn’t be playing football from the start. Just keep doing it and if it makes you happy go follow that smile.”
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