England fans on edge in tight Euro semi-final

A sense of anticipation and excitement was building outside the Stade de Geneve as the semi-final between England and Italy was about to begin.

Supporters streaming through the gates wore curly red and white wigs, while others carried England flags or wore them around their shoulders. A group of children with Union Jack face paint carried a sign with the word “pizza” crossed out and replaced with “fish and chips”.

From time to time, a burst of Three Lions or Sweet Caroline could be heard from loudspeakers, or an almighty roar would erupt from those who had already taken their seats inside.

“Is it coming home?” I asked England fans who had no time to stop and talk as they rushed to join the queue to get in.

“Of course,” some yelled back, while others simply replied “Ingerland”. I took that to mean yes.

Earlier, about 5km (3 miles) away in central Geneva I stood outside a pub with large crowds of England fans. I have never been to Geneva before but I imagine such a sight on a hot, sunny Tuesday afternoon, if at any time really, is not the norm.

I arrived to excited chants of “come on England”, accompanied by a drum, followed by trumpet song and shouts of “Sarina” in homage to England manager Sarina Wiegman.

I first met Lisa and Jen, who had been in Geneva since Thursday after having spent four days hiking in the Alps.

“Down here it’s a bit busier, as you can imagine, but we’re really enjoying it,” said Lisa, who turns 50 next week and may be celebrating the milestone on the same day that England play in the final if they beat Italy.

“Fingers crossed eh,” she says.

Both women were among those lucky enough to have tickets to the semi-final and said they were very excited to support the team.

“I’m probably going to be get quite emotional,” she said.

Also looking forward to watching the semi-final match at the stadium were Kerry, Chrissy and Charlotte, who had all met as a result of the tournament.

“Everyone’s really friendly, so you can sort of just talk to anyone,” said Chrissy.

“It’s been more emotional than I was expecting. Last week’s game [the quarter-final] really took it out of us,” she added.

Chrissy was not alone in feeling that the nail-biting quarter-final match against Sweden was hard for the nerves. Other England fans I spoke to also described it as an “emotional rollercoaster” but they were thrilled the Lionesses came out on top.

Charlotte said she developed a real love of the sport when she attended the Euro 2022 final, when England beat Germany.

“I’m just really excited to kind of go through those emotions again and this time be really passionate about it,” she said.

Also meeting for the first time at the Euros were Manish, who lives in the Swiss city of Bern but supports England, and Stephen, who is British and said he thought Switzerland was a great location for the tournament.

“It’s an amazing place. Great country, great people, great hospitality, it’s been wonderful.”