'I think this time, more than any other time, it's coming home'

York City fan Jason Higgins is travelling down to Wembley later for his seventh major England tournament.

Author: Benjamin FearnPublished 11th Jul 2021

The England men's side are playing their first major tournament final since 1966 later when they face Italy at Wembley.

For many fans it's the first time they've ever seen the national side get this far in international competition.

York City fan Jason Higgins will be among the thousands of fans at Wembley later - the seventh major tournament that he's supported England at: "It started back in 2004 for the European Championships in Portugal - it was a great one to get started with.

"We had three weeks of glorious sunshine and thousands of England fans that completely outnumbered any other travelling nation at that tournament. The atmosphere and passion was just unbelievable - it was something that really stood out for me.

"As a 16 year old at the time it's something I had never experienced before. From that moment I've been following England regularly, and everyone knows of how many so close games we've had and 'what if' moments.

"As a nation we've had so many unlucky moments; I've seen us lose on penalties in three tournaments! We lost to Portugal twice on penalties in 2004 and 2006, and then losing to Italy at Euro 2012 on penalties - it would be great to get that bit of revenge over them today in the final!

"The 'what if' is what keeps me coming back. One of the hardest defeats to take was the (4-1) defeat to Germany at the 2010 World Cup. I was behind the goal where the Frank Lampard effort crossed the line and was never given; you think if that had counted we'd have come in at half time at 2-2 having recovered from 2-0 down, and we could've had the momentum".

Jason Higgins was behind the goal when Frank Lampard's effort at the 2010 World Cup was disallowed

Jason thinks England are due some luck this time, and is confident of a victory against Italy: "Have things swung in our favour at this tournament? You look at that Sterling penalty against Denmark and it was very 50-50; maybe it's our time.

"We got redemption against Germany for me for that 2010 defeat when we beat them 2-0 at Wembley this tournament.

"I think we've got enough to beat Italy - I'm much more confident for this one than I have been for the other knockout games. I think we've got enough to win.

"I think this time, more than any other time, it's coming home!"

It's an early start for Jason as he drives down, and he thinks a win would mean so much to the nation: "You just look at the celebrations after each win at Euro 2020 and the hype just increases.

"If we can get a lot more youngsters involved on the back of this tournament it bodes well for future generations. It's only a year and a half until the next World Cup (2022), so we can take that momentum into that tournament.

"We've got so many good youngsters coming through, and hopefully the FA uses this as a springboard to keep putting more money into grassroots football.

"You never know - the next tournament could see people who are schoolkids now playing at Euro 2024.

"Hopefully we'll get the job done today and end all these years of hurt".

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