Doncaster England fan 'partied long into night' after bagging ticket for Rome quarter final

Joel Phillips, 29, was one of just a handful of England fans able to get tickets for the match at the Stadio Olimpico in the Italian capital.

Because he lives in Germany, Joel, a musician, was able to travel to the match under rules on travelling across mainland Europe during the pandemic.

But when he arrived in Rome, he was able to meet up with scores of other England fans from across the continent.

“I had a bit of an emotional moment as I was walking past the Colosseum and could hear a rumbling,” he said

“As I got closer I realised it was ‘It’s coming home!’ echoing from a load of England fans inside the Colosseum.

“From that point on there were just more and more English multiplying from all over.

“I had chats with England fans who’d travelled from Dubai, Greece, Spain, Germany, France, Belgium, Sweden, Russia, all corners of the earth to be there for the game.

“Choruses of ‘Don’t take me home’ rang out for hours after the final whistle and, to be fair to the Ukrainians, they partied with us long into the night.”

Joel, a member of indie band The Kecks, now lives in Hamburg and said he was the only Englishman in the pub when Gareth Southgate’s side beat their Germany 2-0 in last Tuesday’s last 16 game against Germany to book a quarter final spot.

He said: “I heard about the English fans not being able to get over so had a look on the Uefa website and they had tickets available, so I just bought one immediately.

“Figured I needed to do my bit and roar the boys on as the Barmy Army couldn’t travel.

He flew out on Friday evening and added: ”I think there’s a massive expat community in Europe… so I think it will still be pumping.

“You can go anywhere on Earth and still find some pals to ‘Vindaloo’ along with! I’ll be making an extra effort to lift the noise!”