29^th July 2025

This blog has got all out of sync. I find that I don’t mind at all.

I still haven’t told you about the Wales match. And I’ve not touched on the tension and anxiety of the Sweden quarter-final. Or the stress inducing lateness of the Italy performance. As for that final….well….I aged terribly during those 120 minutes. I haven’t even mentioned the penalties that almost saw me off completely.

I love the Lionesses to pieces but they have been so bad – so bad – for my emotional well-being this tournament.

Speaking of emotion…UEFA introduced a tag-line for Euro 2025.

Football through play and storytelling. No, not that one. That had me confused until I looked into it. (Go take a look, it’s actually a great initiative.)

I’m referring to this tagline…

“The Summit of Emotions”

UEFA.com

The Summit of Emotions, eh? That got me thinking. We all experience a multitude of them each and every day. But how many emotions are there?

Well…to save you the effort I have Googled that very question. The answer is, disappointingly, vague. Some say there are as few as six or seven; other answers give 22 or 27 as the number of emotions we feel. I even saw thirty-four thousand suggested. 34,000!!!

For the sake of this blog, I’m going with twenty-two as defined by the Abraham-Hicks Emotional Guidance Scale – thanks Google!. Otherwise, this would be an incredibly long-winded read for you.

According to Abraham-Hicks, the 22 emotions are:

1. Joy/Appreciation/Empowerment/Freedom/Love
2. Passion
3. Enthusiasm/Eagerness/Happiness
4. Positive Expectation/Belief
5. Optimism
6. Hopefulness
7. Contentment
8. Boredom
9. Pessimism
10. Frustration/Irritation/Impatience
11. Overwhelment (feeling overwhelmed)
12. Disappointment
13. Doubt
14. Worry
15. Blame
16. Discouragement
17. Anger
18. Revenge
19. Hatred/Rage
20. Jealousy
21. Insecurity/Guilt/Unworthiness
22. Fear/Grief/Desperation/Despair/Powerlessness

And why have I looked so (ahem) deeply into this? Well, that UEFA tag line started it.

I wonder if I’ve experienced “the summit” during Euro 2025…Let’s take a look.

• 01: Joy/Appreciation/Empowerment/Freedom/Love
• Definitely felt this one. Oh, that surging release of joy and love that went through me when Chloe Kelly smashed home her penalty to win the trophy. Not to mention my appreciation of her ice-cold celebrations!
• Yep, we can tick that one off.

• Passion
• Again, winning matches brings the passion. As does simply roaring on the Lionesses against the Netherlands in Zürich and, later, back home via the TV.
• Tick.

• Enthusiasm/Eagerness/Happiness
• Enthusiasm/Eagerness/Enthusiasm…if this blog hasn’t revealed my enthusiasm and eagerness for the DadLadTour adventure to Switzerland then I’m sorry. I obviously haven’t written it well enough! As for the happiness those 23 Lionesses brought me!
• Another emotion ticked off.

• Positive Expectation/Belief
• Despite losing the opening match to France, I had the belief that England would qualify from Group D – albeit in second place. After our first game, I expected France to top the group.
• Still, a tick for “belief”.

• Optimism
• A tricky one this. But, I believe, my initial excitement and dreams for our trip qualifies as optimism. Though I confess to thinking, right from the start, that Spain would win it.
• Anyway…tick.

• Hopefulness
• That’s pretty much all you have as a football fan, isn’t it? Hope.
• So, tick.

• Contentment
• You have to be pretty content with a 5-0 lead against your final group opponents and home nation rivals don’t  you? Although, conceding a late goal – despite it being a belter of a strike – slightly marred the eventual 6-1 win. Still, I was quite content with finishing second in Group D and the route that paved for us.
• Tickety, tick.

• Boredom
• Hmmm….the football didn’t bore me; that was all very exciting and enjoyable. What bored me? Aha, all the waiting at airports.
• Yet another emotion off the list. We’re on a roll!

• Pessimism
• Oh, yes…..I felt this one in spades. Right after that loss to France. I convinced myself that the Lionesses were not going to be able to get out of the group. Then the Sweden match. And Italy. Then Spain going ahead. Yep, pessimism by the bucketful.
• Ticked off.

• Frustration/Irritation/Impatience
• The Swedish referee, Tess Olofsson, in charge for the France game, was a major cause of irritation to me and everyone in our house. And to many fans I’ve since spoken to.
• A massive tick for frustration and irritation.

• Overwhelment (feeling overwhelmed)
• Did I feel overwhelmed during Euro 2025? I think I did. Several times. Firstly, despite the company provided by #SonInLawNo1, I missed my wife during the trip. Consequently I felt a little overwhelmed at times. Secondly, can you be overwhelmed by weather? I think so because it was incredibly hot and the temperatures really got to me at some points.
• Tick.

• Disappointment
• Heck, yes! Several times. The France result. Trailing 2-0 to Sweden. Multiple penalty misses – including Mead’s “double touch” penalty success and her subsequent miss from the retake. We had a few half-times when we were disappointed by the first forty-five.
• A definite TICK.

• Doubt
• Where to start? Penalty shootouts…player fitness….Hampton as 1^st choice (sorry Double H but you’ve proved me so wrong (so wrong)). Doubt is an intrinsic facet of any football fans nature. Without experiencing prior doubt, the successes are lessened.
• Tick (I think…..only joking. See… doubt again!)

• Worry
• Yep. Refs again…Swedish Tess, and Stéphanie Frappart in the final. Both gave major cause for concern and worry. Neither seemed especially “even” in their rulings on fouls and yellow cards. Obvs, this is an England fan interpretation. Spain may disagree.
• Worry indeed! Tick.

• Blame
• Refs! Say no more.
• Tick.

• Discouragement
• A really tricksy one here. Did I feel discouraged at the Euros? Probably by the realisation we wouldn’t be able to get a Madli plushy for #GrandDaughterNo1. That’s possibly a tenuous emotional link but, hey, it’s my list.
• Tick. Another bites the dust.

• Anger
• Swedish Tess and French Frappart. – AGAIN!  Refs generally get all the bad emotions directed at them. Sorry, girls. 
• Another tick.

• Revenge
• Let me take you back to 2023 and the World Cup Final…Spain 1 : 0 England.
• So yes, revenge gets a tick. Oh, boy, does it get ticked!!

• Hatred/Rage
• Probably the most difficult emotion to tie down. Hatred is out, I didn’t feel anything like that at Euro 2025. But rage? A little. Aimed primarily at those social media eejits who insist on aiming abuse at players; racial, sexual or, simply, implying women shouldn’t – or worse, can’t – play football.
• Yes, I feel rage towards those people. But not hatred, any hatred is bad.

• Jealousy
• Oh, we all get a tad jealous of players in other teams. Who wouldn’t want Aitana Bonmati, Jule Brandt, Stina Blackstenius or a host of other talented players in their team? But, we have the Lionesses, don’t we. I wouldn’t swap any of them at all.
• But, a big, green Grinchy/Shreky coloured, tick.

• Insecurity/Guilt/Unworthiness
• I certainly felt insecure at times. Mainly when England were trailing and the clock was running out. Were we a touch unworthy of winning one – or two – of those knock-out games?
• Tick.

• Fear/Grief/Desperation/Despair/Powerlessness
• I was afraid of going out at the group stage. The “Group of Death” title certainly makes you afraid of falling at the first hurdle. Not to mention losing your opener 1-2. I felt desperation as well. And far too often for my liking. Agyemang’s late equaliser against Italy – 90+6 minutes! – definitely had an air of desperation about it.
• As for feeling powerless, that’s how I feel whenever watch I football – especially those important “must win” matches – on television instead of being at the actual match. For some reason, despite the very same action taking place on the pitch as I’m watching in person or from my sofa, I feel that, if I am at the stadium, I have some ability to influence proceedings. An irrational thought but one that persists with me.
• One final tick in the box.

So, there you have it. All 22 emotions accounted for. Definitive – possibly scientific – proof that I experienced the full range of emotions at this tournament.

As UEFA have hinted I did, indeed, reach the summit of emotions during Euro 2025.