Tens of thousands of English football fans have flocked to the city centre and nearby parks in Sheffield in anticipation of this evening’s Euro 2022 semifinal.
As well as using social media to show their support, supporters who were among the fortunate 32,050 people to have tickets for the game at Bramall Lane also tracked their travels to South Yorkshire.
Around 1,500 Sweden fans descended on Sheffield’s Division Street today, filling the street with blue and yellow shirts.
England supporters appeared to be leaving it a little later than usual to start their pre-game rituals, but two fan parks in the city are anticipated to be packed with spectators for the live broadcast of the game on Devonshire Green.
More than 100 miles away, large crowds have gathered in London’s Trafalgar Square fan zone, with hundreds bringing flags and lounge chairs.
With a record 14 million viewers expected to watch the Lionesses’ match against Sweden tonight, England fans, including David Beckham and Michael Owen, are rooting for their team to win.
It is anticipated that fans will spend £100 million on food, alcohol, and merchandise.
According to reports, every hotel room in Sheffield has been reserved for the eagerly anticipated Euro match.
The festivities outside the Frog and Parrot pub were being led by Swedish sisters Caroline and Ida Gunnarsson, 24 and 17, respectively.
It’s amazing here, Caroline remarked. We really enjoy it.
“The English are simply amazing,”
The 24-year-old Barnsley resident Jonny Spence said: “They’re outsing us right now, but come kick-off, it’ll be different.”
Bramall Lane has so far hosted matches in the tournament that have already broken attendance records for group stage games involving teams other than the host, with 21,342 watching Sweden’s match against Holland and 22,596 watching them defeat Switzerland.
The Sheffield City Council estimates that 7,500 foreign fans have attended matches in the city, and on the Saturday of the opening match in Sheffield, attendance increased by 22%, to more than 10,000.
It stated that the city’s economic impact, which has put its name forward to host the Eurovision Song Contest in 2019, is anticipated to be in the neighbourhood of £3 million.
Sarina Wiegman, the team’s manager, has urged fans to cheer her team to victory as they attempt to break their recent semi-final losing streak in Sheffield this evening.
Tens of thousands of fans will descend on fan zones around England, notably in Trafalgar Square, to support the Lionesses, with Michael Owen joining the chorus of celebrities who are wishing them luck. Bramall Lane is anticipated to be packed.
A visibly tanned and “happy” David Beckham hailed the squad for inspiring millions of girls, including his daughter Harper, 11, who he said will be “watching tonight” in a video from what looked to be his yacht in Saint-Tropez, where he is vacationing with Victoria and their kids.
The majority will watch the football at home, where it is anticipated that they will spend £100 million, including £90 million on food and beverages at big-box stores to enjoy while watching the game.
Following a victory over Spain in overtime the previous week, England takes on Sweden in Sheffield, with 14 million fans expected to watch the match on BBC1 at 8 o’clock. The team is expected to get to the final and would set a record for women’s football in the UK.
According to a study by VoucherCodes.co.uk, fans will spend an additional £7 million on official gear, £2.8 million on other stuff, and more than $1 million on a new car for the final at Wembley on Sunday, in addition to the £90 million they will spend on food and drink.
According to Waitrose, unlike before an England men’s match, beer and chips were not the greatest sellers before the big game.
Instead, consumers have chosen rosé wine and popcorn. Sales of rosé have increased significantly during the tournament, and this week’s top three selling wines are all pink.
Wiegman claimed they are not dwelling on the past as they attempt to secure their spot at Wembley for the Euros final, despite the fact that the last three championships have all ended in defeat at the same point.
Sarina Wiegman asserted, “I believe being in the present is essential.” “I do believe that you should always take something away from an experience in order to grow and learn.” But continuing to bring up that subject is now useless.
The England team is prepared to play its best game against Sweden tomorrow and, perhaps, motivate the country.
It’s going to be a really close game, in my opinion. In the FIFA rankings, they are ranked second.
We are aware of their impressive recent performances because they have consistently excelled in the women’s game.
Reaching the semi-finals has already been fantastic; we saw that we inspired a lot of people, but I also believe that our supporters inspired us a lot.
“I’m hoping they’ll give us a lot of energy once more.” What we received at our most recent games was truly an additional dimension.
That’s incredibly thrilling, and we hope we can win their approval once more.
Live broadcasts of England’s semifinal will be shown in Trafalgar Square and numerous fan parks across the nation.
The support from the home audience, according to Millie Bright, who participated in England’s last two semi-final failures, has been essential.
“It’s the answer we’ve been hoping for and wanting in the women’s game,” the author says.
The attendance during this tournament, in my opinion, has been incredible.
It demonstrates the development of the game and the course we aim to take moving forward.
Wiegman and Bright responded coolly to inquiries about the significance of the game tonight, but Sweden came out swinging in their criticism of UEFA’s use of VAR in the competition.
Goals scored by Peter Gerhardsson’s team against Switzerland and Belgium were disallowed for offside, however former Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson claimed the VAR lines had been drawn improperly.
“If you’re talking about the complaint that our employees made, it’s evident,” Gerhardsson said. “We haven’t seen it ourselves but a Swedish referee at home in a studio pointed us that they drew the line incorrectly.”
“My impression is that sometimes we put too much reliance in VAR. You don’t know if it’s a goal or not until the referee blows the “game on” whistle.
We will have to pray that they have considered how they can get better for tomorrow’s semi-final. Additionally, Sweden asserted that UEFA employs 50% less cameras than are used for the men’s game.
Kosovre Asllani, a forward, stated: “Using 50% fewer cameras in our tournament than in the men’s game is really a catastrophe because the decisions can’t be made with the same precision. It’s not just for us, there are other teams, and there are situations where you should have more cameras and it can be really decisive.”
Due to the ties between the two teams, families are divided over the game.
While on vacation visiting his wife Susanna’s extended family in Jonkoping, Sweden, Damion Potter, 47, claimed he will be the “lone person with the England shirt” as he gets ready to watch the game.
‘We still need to work out a bet between my wife and myself, but so far we’re thinking someone has to jump in the river for whichever team loses,’ the former diplomat told the PA news agency.
“I’ll be rooting for England and hoping the Lionesses win everything,” you said.
Everyone else will be rooting for Sweden except for myself and potentially my children, depending on the outcome, so I’ll be the only one wearing an England jersey.
May the best group triumph.
The pressure is off their three children, Elliot, 18, Zackary, 17, and Maya, 14, despite the competitiveness of the pair.
In the 2016 men’s World Cup match between England and Sweden, Mr. Potter remarked: “It was funny to see our three kids initially supporting Sweden and by the end of the match, all three of them were supporting England.
The good news for my kids is that whoever prevails in the semifinals will have a squad competing in the championship.
Even with the intra-family conflict, football has always been a part of the Potter family’s great moments.
21 years have passed since Mr. and Mrs. Potter were wed, and on their wedding day in November 2001, England played Sweden.
Mr. Potter characterised the game’s one-all draw as a “excellent diplomatic result.”
Even though Mr. Potter has been a sports lover since he was 10 years old, he didn’t watch his first women’s World Cup until after the birth of his first kid.
“My first son was born at the end of September 2003, two weeks before the World Cup, and wasn’t sleeping at night so I worked the night shift and ended up watching nearly every game,” he said.
Victoria Svensson of Sweden, who won the Golden Boot that year, worked as a maintenance worker at the British embassy in Stockholm, where I also had a job.
I became obsessed with men’s and women’s football after that, especially for the major championships.
Mr. Potter continued by expressing his hope that the “momentum and excitement” around the women’s games will last.
There are more women and girls playing football now than there were when he was in school, he said.
Her ability to play football at school is important to me as a father of teenage boys and a 14-year-old daughter.
‘I mean, there’s still a ways to go, but I’m really happy that in the UK we’re seeing this year’s Euros on primetime television, the back pages are showing the lionesses doing well, and the stadiums are full around the UK,’ the author said.
“I believe being hosts helps, but I hope that that continues just like it has with all this momentum and excitement,” said the speaker.