‘Thank you for the memories’ – England’s team behind the team

It has been a wild ride for fans who have followed England’s Euro 2025 journey.

Give the loved ones of the Lionesses a thought in Switzerland.

Following five matches over the course of three weeks, they have cheered every goal, kicked every ball, and watched every penalty from behind their hands as Sarina Wiegman’s side have been on a rollercoaster ride together.

The challenge of Euro 2025 has been particularly challenging for England duo Ella Toone and Beth Mead.

The two have played their first major tournament since losing a parent, with Mead losing her mother to ovarian cancer in January of that year, and Toone’s father, Nick, suffering from prostate cancer, passing away in September of that year.

Joe Bunney, Toone’s boyfriend, told BBC Sport, “We were talking about him only the other day as a family.” Nick would have adored this, Nick said.

“Nick gave us a lot of great inspiration to help us support Ella,” he said. We can probably win the Euros for him with just one more step. He is watching over her every goal she scores and every game.

“The people she has around her are really important,” Ella says. Additionally, Beth Mead. Similar circumstances are occurring for them. They have each other, and they are so resilient to endure what they’ve been through during the football season, before moving on to the Euros.

While Toone and Mead have shared grief and bonded over the pitch, the Lionesses’ families and friends have been bonded over Euro 2025, especially as they have celebrated England’s late goals.

Michelle Agyemang’s 96th-minute quarter-final equalizer against Italy was all a bit of a blur, Bunney said. In front of me was Michele’s family. The scenes were unbelievable.

I ended up on row three because I was sat in row seven and didn’t finish there. Michelle’s family must be very proud of themselves, I told them. When Alessia Russo and Ella were having an impact on the games, it transports us to 2022. It’s significant because Michelle and her family are such a wonderful couple and we get along really well.

Lucy Bronze’s seventh major tournament for England will be at Euro 2025.

She scored in the 79th minute against Sweden to force extra-time, and she also scored with a brilliant penalty in the shootout, which was also a star for the Lionesses in Switzerland.

The things that they did for us during this tournament, Bronze’s brother Jorge said to BBC Sport, “My goodness.”

People keep asking me if I’m having a great time while I’m here, but I’m not. Simply put, trauma follows trauma after trauma follows trauma. It’s been a fantastic experience that was exhausting, emotional, thrilling, and everything in between.

Jorge’s two young children make up the Bronze family in Switzerland.

Lucy absolutely adores playing silly games with her and a five-year-old.

After a very intense game of football, they were playing a little hide-and-seek with auntie Lucy in the ground at 1am.

Under Wiegman, players’ families and friends now play a role in the success of England, according to Jorge.

“We’ve noticed a real shift,” Jorge said. “Undoubtedly, there has been a strategy under Sarina to get the family and friends interested, but we are aware of our role.”

“My four-year-old refused to finish my half-eaten cheese sandwich when we took Lucy to a play park. Every player has their own downtime in their own way, but everyone is having a slightly different experience.

“We just want to give them that little bit of normality,” the family said. whether it’s hitting her at table tennis or Mario Kart, or just chatting things up, I’m still her older brother. Whatever it may be, the players are what we are trying to serve.

Giorgio Russo, Alessia Russo’s brother, was on Love Island, making it impossible for him to play in England’s first two Euro 2025 group games.

He left Spain for Switzerland just in time for the nervy quarter-final defeat to Sweden in Zürich.

Giorgio said, “Me and her are our best friends and we talk a lot about everything non-football.” She was the first to learn about Love Island. She can’t help but switch off from work because we’re such good friends.

At Euro 2025, Giriotta was completely unaware of roller coasters. With his dramatic extra-time semi-final victory and tense penalty shootout win over the Netherlands and Wales, he missed the big wins over the Netherlands and Wales.

It’s been a lot of work,” she said. Giorgio said, “I’m not used to this as a fan.” When I arrived for the knockout, it was difficult, but elation at the end. The group stages started shaky but really came back.

You actually feel it from the perspective of a family member, which is a different kind of emotion. They were all unable to watch the penalty shootout [against Sweden] with my mother, Ella’s mother, and Leah [Williamson’s mother]. I laugh so hard watching Leah’s mother that it seems like she’s in pain during the games.

The girls can obviously sense it, and when a goal is scored, the celebrations are insane, but I don’t think I would want to go anywhere else.

Giorgio calls Georgia Stanways brother John-Paul one of the “fun police” along with Joe Bunney, and he coordinates gatherings with the players’ friends and families.

Even when making a quiet meal with family, it turns out to be a team outing, according to JP, who reported that word about the meal spread the day after England’s semi-final victory over Italy.

He said the following day that we had a Chinese meal. There were the Toones, the Walshs, and Jill Scott who joined us as a few members of the team who learned of this meal.

We didn’t really talk much, they said. Simply being calm. We discussed the final tickets, briefly describing the situation. Our task was to calm her down and restore normality to her mind. We made an effort to maintain its consistency and authenticity.

Georgia, JP’s message: “I want to thank you for the memories you’ve given us. Back-to-back-to-back championships. Not so grateful for the heart attacks you’ve caused in recent games.