It was heartbreak in York at the final whistle of the Euro 2024 final as England’s men’s team could not shake 58 years of hurt.
The Press watched the final in Spark: York in Piccadilly, along with dozens of fans packed in to the ticketed venue screening the final between Spain and England from the Olympiastadion in Berlin.
Nerves and emotions were fraught throughout the game – a tense encounter which was shaded 2-1 by Spain, whose winner came in the 86th minute courtesy of Mikel Oyarzabal.
There was jubilation when substitute Cole Palmer netted a cool equaliser in the 73rd minute but there was little chance for England to reply to the pre-match favourites after their second four minutes from the end of normal time.
Betsy and Nas, both from South Bank in York, tried to keep their spirits high at the end of the game.
They’d been watching the final with Jodie and Liam from Rawcliffe, who’d been out to Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, to see England’s tournament opener against Serbia.
Betsy, 26, said: “It’s a real shame that we couldn’t win it today, but bring on the World Cup qualifiers."
Nas conceded that he thought overall that Spain were worthy winners of the tournament.
At half time, he thought that England were looking more positive and that Spain ended the first 45 minutes sketchily.
The interval came at the right time for the Spaniards – now four time winners of the Euros – with Nico Williams getting the scoring underway two minutes after the restart.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here