30th March 2026
I quite like lists.
Though, not as much as #WifeNo1 does.
She is always making lists; of birthday presents to buy; Christmas cards to write; tasks required for her work; grocery items needed (which she nearly always forgets to take with her to the shops); dates the mutts are in kennels; and of chores she has decided need doing around the house – by me.
My lists are altogether far more exciting. They include:
1. power tools I own
2. power tools I would like to own.
3. albums I own on vinyl.
4. albums I would like to own on vinyl.
That sort of thing. The important stuff. These – to me – are good lists.
I also have another list. One that gives me a great amount of pleasure. It may not be up there with Mr Dury’s famous list but it is one that makes me rather cheerful. It’s a list I that I have recently added my 14th entry to.
It’s my…sound of trumpets and a drum roll, please…
“My List of Lioness Matches I Have Attended.”
Would you like to see it? Yes. Good job, as this blog post is all about it. Here are the first five entries on my list.
Match No.1 Tuesday 30th November 2021
@ Eco-Power Stadium, Doncaster
England 🏴 v. 🇱🇻 Latvia (FIFA Women’s World Cup Qualifier)
Result: Won: 20-0
My debut “in the flesh” Lionesses match. After a good few years as an “arm-chair” fan of the England Women’s team – I became interested in, and by, them during the 2015 World Cup in Canada.
Bethany, #DaughterNo1, collected me after work and did the driving to Doncaster for this 7pm kick-off. She knew some pretty scary – dark and windy – roads that avoided the motorway but ensured we go there in time. Parking around the stadium was chaotic; cars were already two deep on the sides of the approach roads (and three deep in places when we left the match). We parked a 10-15 minutes brisk walk away and I was knackered by the time we got to our seats.
The journey, and the speed-walking, to the home of Doncaster Rovers was well worth it, though!
We were both already pretty excited by – not only our first Lionesses match but our very first England international fixture – and our girls did not let us down.
With a convincing lead of 8-0 at half-time, Bethany and I guessed how many goals we would end with. One of us jokingly suggested we could easily double the current half-time score. Then we thought, “Sixteen nil. Sounds good. But let’s round it up to an even twenty.”
We laughed at how silly we were being. A twenty-nil scoreline in an international would be daft!
Then we cheered with each second-half goal the girls scored. Everyone in the stadium was delighted. Except for the Latvia players and staff, and the few hardy fans that had travelled in support of them.
Four Lionesses scored hat-tricks that night; Beth Mead, Ellen White and Alessia Russo with three goals apiece. Lauren Hemp went one better and bagged four. Beth England got herself a brace. Ella Toone, Georgia Stanway, Jess Carter, Jill Scott and Jordan Nobbs also netted.
If I wasn’t hooked on The Lionesses before, then I certainly was after this experience.
Despite being out-of-breath on the walks to-and-from the car, this wasn’t a bad debut for an old bloke such as me.
Match No.2 Friday 24th June 2022
@ Elland Road, Leeds
England 🏴 v. 🇳🇱 Netherlands (Friendly)
Result: Won: 5-1
A Lionesses fixture almost on our doorstep! #DaughterNo1 and I couldn’t miss this match. We simply had to go – even though the match was at the home of our own men’s teams nemesis.
A chance to see the girls before they host the Euro 2022 tournament. And a tantalising encounter that pitted Sarina Wiegman against her previous employers, in front of almost 20,000 England fans.
The Netherlands scored the opening goal of the night after 22 minutes. This wasn’t what the feverish England fans expected and spirits dropped briefly. Thankfully Lucy Bronze equalised ten minutes later to restore belief among the fans inside Elland Road. ⚽️ All square at the break.
The second half belonged to the Lionesses.
The Dutch missed a 52nd minute penalty. Phew! Beth Mead then fired us into the lead just a minute later. ⚽️ Double phew! Ella Toone and Lauren Hemp took the game away from the Oraanje with two quick-fire goals on 72 ⚽️ and 74 minutes ⚽️, before Mead rounded off the scoring with her second in the 90th ⚽️.
A beautiful, early summer evening and – eventually – a resounding victory. The Lionesses go into the Euros in fine fettle.
Match No.3 Wednesday 6th July 2022
@ Old Trafford, Manchester
England 🏴 v. 🇦🇹 Austria (Group A, UEFA Women’s Euro 2022)
Result: Won: 1-0
A mass family event, this one. We all went; #DaughterNo1 (Bethany), #SoninLawNo1 (Liam) and #WifeNo1 (Sarah) and I made the hour’s drive over the Pennines to Manchester. As did a whole load of other folk…with 68,871 fans making this a record-breaking attendance.
(Little did we know at this point that we would soon choose Manchester United as the WSL team to follow going forwards.)
Sarah and my seats were right at the top of the Sir Alex Ferguson stand and we were staggered – and staggering – with the number of stairs we had to climb to reach them in the third tier. Oxygen, please!
I recall this game as being a tense affair. Joy and excitement allied with expectation and hope seemed to infuse the Manchester evening air. But Austria hadn’t come to lie back and simply be beaten. They made England work hard for this opening win. Very hard.
Beth Mead – that girl again – scored in the 17th minute by lifting the ball over the Austrian goalie – her Arsenal team mate Manuela Zinsberger – and into the goal. Or had she? It took several moments of confusion and concern while VAR analysed the footage to see if the ball had crossed the line before being hacked clear by an Austrian defender.
Thankfully, the tournament’s first goal was awarded. 1-0 to the Lionesses. ⚽️
England had chances, although none were especially clear-cut. Austria proved difficult opponents and the slim lead looked precarious at times. Both sides looked tired as the match finished without further scoring.
I was 3 wins from 3 in my fledgling international career and the Lionesses home Euro campaign was up and running.
Match No.4 Tuesday 26th July 2022
@ Bramall Lane, Sheffield
England 🏴 v 🇸🇪 Sweden (Semi- Final, UEFA Women’s Euro 2022)
Result: Won: 4-0
Despite being a Bradford City fan for over four decades, and our teams having met on many occasions in those forty years, I had never previously been to Bramall Lane, Sheffield United’s home, to watch a game. Quite surprising as it is only 40 minutes, or so, down the motorway from my door.
Three of us – Bethany, Liam and I – made the short trip from the glorious West side of Yorkshire into the heathen Southern part of the county. #YoungDan was driving up from his home in Lincolnshire for this semi-final and we had arranged to meet at one of Sheffield’s Wetherspoons for a pint and a bite to eat ahead of the game.
Bethany had originally only bought two tickets; one for me and one for her. As the match neared, #SonInLawNo1 and #YoungDan found they could attend but did not have tickets. Liam managed to secure two additional “golden tickets” at a price that wasn’t too elevated. Consequently, our little party of four was seated in two different parts of that huge stand behind one goal.
Liam was delighted at his decision to pay more than face value for his ticket as the Lionesses put on a magnificent performance to secure their place in the Euro Championship final.
I will readily admit to fearing for our chances as Sweden, in their yellow and blue strip, bossed the early stages. They forced Mary Earps into a save in the opening seconds. The Arsenal’s Stina Blackstenius miscued when through on goal, before striking the bar with a header from six yards out.
33 minutes of concern and anxiety for England fans.
Then, from the right side, Lucy Bronze pounced on a loose ball and played in centrally to Beth Mead. Unlike her club team mate Blackstenius, Mead’s first touch was perfect and she swept the ball past the Swedish keeper. ⚽️
England in the lead. Was it against the run of play? Yep. Did I – or most of the 28,264 inside Bramall Lane – care? Nope!
Just minutes into the second-half Mead went from goal scorer to assisting in doubling England’s lead. Her 48th minute corner was met at the back post by a trademark thumping header from Bronze. The ball flew between players to nestle in the corner of the net. ⚽️
Bramall Lane went wild. I went wild. #DaughterNo1 went wild. I hugged her. I hugged a complete stranger stood next to me. A lot of hugging took place.
And then, on 68 minutes. Right in front of where we were sat. The impossible.
Without a doubt, you will remember this goal for its sheer audacity and brilliance.
Fran Kirby is through. She cuts it back. Alessia Russo shoots. Keeper saves. Russo back heels the rebound.
GOAL! ⚽️
Did we really just witness that? It was – what – twenty-five yards in front of us? But did it actually happen? I mean…who scores with a back heel? Especially in a semi-final? Sensational.
A third goal. An impossible goal. An incredible goal.
On 76, Franny K added the gloss with a fourth and England had ended a run of three successive defeats in major tournament semi-finals. ⚽️
Wembley – and seven-time winners Germany – now await the Lionesses on Sunday.
Match No.5 Sunday 31st July 2022
@ Wembley Stadium, London
England 🏴 v 🇩🇪 Germany (Final, UEFA Women’s Euro 2022)
Result: Won: 2-1 (AET)
Bethany and Liam had planned the whole tournament to perfection; opening match tickets, semi-final and final tickets, and even hotel accommodation to boot. Perfection.
We went down to Wembley on the Saturday afternoon. Rooms booked at the Premier Inn right beside the stadium. Liam was sharing with his mum, I was sharing with #DaughterNo1. In the morning, after breakfast and while Bethany got ready, I went to take in the early activity and build-up outside the hotel.
And, partly, to try and calm my nerves. Because I was very nervous.
Germany. We simply couldn’t beat them, could we? My heart said yes. My head said no.
I sat myself on a bench and watched while people went past. Young, old. Couples, friends, partners, families. England fans. German fans. Fans of other countries. All manner of football shirts on display.
Nearby, UEFA people and volunteers were setting up the German fanzone. A chap with a stack of Germany flags was moving around, offering them to fans in German shirts. I approached and asked for one. Eyeing my England shirt, he was reluctant to hand one over. I told him of my admiration for German football, their shirts (which I think are – more often than not – among the best around), of my six-years living in Germany and my first-ever football match being to watch Borussia Mönchengladbach. Suitably impressed by my accreditations – or, bored with me and anxious to get away – he kindly agreed to my request.
So there I was, a late-middle-aged man in an England shirt happily holding a very large German football flag. Talk about mixed messages.
We briefly meet up with #YoungDan. Hand shakes, hugs. Five minutes or so of catching-up before he heads off to locate his seat at the other side of the ground..
Then, the four of us, are into the stadium. Not my first rodeo at Wembley but, I will admit, the one I have most enjoyed.
Kick-off approaching. Excitement and tension building. Those earlier nerves of mine have not gone away. In fact they have grown. I am a wreck.
Five minute to kick-off. #WifeNo1 texts. Alex Popp has picked up an injury in the warm-up.
“Popp’s out.” I say in disbelief.
Liam – or was it Bethany? I forget – checks the line-ups on their phone. And there it is. Confirmation. Germany’s ace-striker, Popp, misses the game. England’s hopes have improved – but only by a little. The rest of their team is pretty darn good!
I don’t actually recall most of the match. I do remember feeling anxious, hopeful, worried, excited and helpless.
I do remember Ella Toone’s chip. Who could forget it? Oh, it was glorious. It seemed to me, however, to take an eternity to actually hit the net. Incredibly, England were in front. ⚽️
Delight! Ecstasy!
28 minutes to go. Only 1,680 seconds left. Each one seeming to take a millennia to pass.
HOLD ON!
But we couldn’t. And I knew we wouldn’t. How could we? England always blow it, don’t we?
11 minutes from time and Germany save themselves. 1-1. Only a matter of time before they get a second.
Despair. Defeat certain.
Extra-time.
Oh, God, please don’t go to penalties. We never win on penalties. Especially against the Germans. They always win.
Half-time in extra-time. Still 1-1.
110 minutes. Corner to England.
Chloe Kelly pounces on the rebound. Stabs the ball home.
Pandemonium. On the pitch. On the terraces.
Kelly turns, looks towards the linesman. Or, was it a lineswoman? Who cares? The goal stands. ⚽️
Kelly wheels away in delight. Shirt off. Waves it around her head. Lionesses chase after her.
It’s joyous, beautiful. It’s iconic. It’s etched into my brain.
It’s also Kelly’s first England goal. And what a goal to score! She’s put us 2-1 up with ten to play.
I’m out of my seat. Out of my head.
It’s unbelievable. Incredible. We might actually win this.
Germany press. England under pressure. The Lionesses play keep-ball. They take it down to the German corner flag.
“You can’t keep it there for five minutes!” I yell.
I’m wrong. They keep possession. Starve Germany of the ball.
The Lionesses see it through. The final whistle blows. They’ve only gone and won it.
Wembley erupts.
And, somewhere inside a record crowd 87,192 fans, a late-middle-aged man wearing an England shirt holds tight to his recently acquired German flag and cries in joy and relief.
The DadLadTour - The Road to EURO29 (Deutschland Ausgabe🇩🇪) 
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