'Absolutely brilliant' - Hartlepool woman's eye-witness account as she watched England in Euro 2020 action at Wembley

Christine Fewster and husband Gavin savoured every moment of the Three Lions’ first competitive game in front of spectators since the pandemic.

And it’s a day she will never forget – because she briefly lost her phone when she was cheering so much when England scored their winning goal against Croatia on Sunday.

England emerged victorious with a 1-0 win to get their Euro campaign off to the perfect start.

"I got too excited,” she said. “I sat back down, realised I had lost the phone and had to go searching for it.”

Christine found the phone but her main memory was of a day where the atmosphere was remarkable.

She added: “We stayed at a hotel which was only five minutes from the stadium.

"The whole set-up at the ground was superb. Wembley is set up brilliantly with so much to do around the stadium. It is a proper tourist attraction.”

The whole occasion was a Covid-safe one and Christine added: "We knew that everyone in the stadium was either double vaccinated or they had done lateral flow tests to show they were safe to go into the ground.”

Once inside, the excitement for the match was top notch and Christine said: “I had never been to Wembley before and the atmosphere was special from all the England supporters.”

The couple had a two-year wait to see the game after originally buying their tickets in 2019.

She added: "When Covid hit and there were going to be reduced numbers, our names had to be put in a ballot with all the other people who bought tickets and we got through.

“It was an unbelievable weekend. I had never seen Wembley before and I just wish we could go to all the England games.”

But there was even better news on the day as Gavin and Christine’s other favourite team, Hartlepool United, got through to the finals of the National League play-offs after beating Stockport County 1-0.

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