Pubs and clubs across the West Midlands stayed open for fans to watch the England victory, as they beat Mexico 3-2 at the Azteca Stadium.
Ashley Price, from Willenhall in the West Midlands, was at the game and said it was the “greatest game of football I have ever been to in my life”.
“I’m not joking – the stadium was literally shaking, bouncing,” he said.
The Mexico fans were “brilliant,” he added, “so passionate. It’s just been unbelievable, I can’t believe what I’ve just watched, to be honest”.
Stourbridge’s own Jude Bellingham scored twice in the space of 98 seconds before half-time, sending crowds into a frenzy of celebration.
His advice to fans watching the game?
“Have another shot and text your bosses to say you’re not coming in tomorrow.”
Thomas Sproulle, from Shropshire, was also in the stadium and added: “I’m totally lost for words. It was surreal.
“It was like going into a church or a cathedral. What a special place.”
Lee Vaughan, from Shrewsbury, said the trip to Mexico was “worth every penny”.
“I think the experience I’ve had tonight it the best I’ve ever had in football,” he said.
“It’s had to put into words,” he added, “I think we knew how difficult this game was going to be – and Mexico made that so, so difficult tonight.
“It was such a rollercoaster, you couldn’t have scripted it. We’ve come here and we’ve done a job. We march on.”
Owen Roberts, from Fernhill Heath, Worcestershire, also bumped into footballing royalty at the Azteca.
He managed to grab a picture with former England striker Alan Shearer and agreed it was also the best match he had ever seen.
“We’ve probably seen a different side to England – there’s been a lot of criticism of the way that we’ve played in the first four games – but to go to the Azteca against Mexico, and to go down to 10 men in the second half and to come away with the win… is just incredible,” he said.
Bellingham had got to be “one of England’s best players”, he added.
“At the age of 23, it’s just incredible.”
Former Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion striker Garry Thompson said the match had all the ingredients for a nail-biting finish – “you had a player sent off, you had a penalty, you’ve got all sorts going on”.
“And then 11 minutes of extra time… it did go on and on, and you kept looking at the clock thinking ‘surely it’s got to be now’.”
“It was an absolutely magnificent game of football.”
“I don’t want to go too early and say it’s coming home,” he added, “but I’ve just got this sneaky feeling.”
Pupils at Villiers Primary School in Bilston were all avoiding the news earlier, ahead of a showing of the match at the school.
Assistant head teacher Carly McKenzie said she promised pupils her social media feeds would be turned off “and I wouldn’t tune into anything at all”.
“However,” she added, “I am a very light sleeper and heard some cheering in the early hours this morning, so I’ve got a bit of a feeling, but who knows, we’ll see.”
Pupils at Bewdley Primary School also packed into the school hall to be shown the match, where the lesson of the day was supporting England.
After a quiet start the hall erupted as Bellingham scored twice in quick succession to give England a 2-0 lead.
Nearly all the children and a fair few of the staff had avoided finding out the score, leaving them to experience the lows and the absolute highs in real time.
After plenty of nervy moments, the final whistle brought relief and unadulterated joy.
Sarah Cardwell, deputy headteacher of The Coleshill School, a secondary school in Warwickshire, organised free ice cream for the first 100 pupils to come in at the usual time and watch the match highlights during form time.
She said her bribe worked as pupils enjoyed watching the action.
“Win or lose, we had a big decision to make,” Cardwell said.
“Knowing England were on in the early hours, we wanted all of our students in school, so actually the atmosphere has been fantastic and having free breakfast ice cream was really a brilliant way to start our day for our students as they spoke about the match highlights and watched that in form time on the big screens.
She said it was important to mark such an event.
“We were really pleased to see the look on the students’ faces as they were talking about it with friends – that’s what school’s about, coming together as a community and remembering these big events.”
Five-year-old Finlay from West Bromwich happily got up and watched the whole match, before returning to bed and was “up and ready for school as normal this morning,” said mum Nicola.
“He was ready and raring to go. Work hard, play hard.”
Pub chains that took advantage of the opportunity to open through the night said they saw a sales boost.
Marston’s said more than 120,000 drinks were sold in its pubs between 23:00 and 05:00.
About 450 of the chain’s 1,300 pubs stayed open through the night so that punters could watch England’s 3-2 victory.
A spokesperson for the Wolverhampton-based company said the “busiest locals of the night” included The Swan in Mansfield, The Arrow in Yeovil, and the New Spires in Coventry.
Bik Singh, from The Maggies pub in Hall Green, Birmingham, stayed open until 05:00 and said it was a “wonderful experience”.
“We didn’t really know what to expect, but the result, obviously, was the icing on the cake,” he said.
“It just felt like everyone was on holiday, it just felt like everyone was on a year abroad in one of those bars.
Singh added: “It was busy, I had to actually pull my finger out and do some work, but when the game started it got serious and customers were really focused into the game.
“Letting everybody out we were trying not to make too much noise, but everyone was so happy and cheerful – and just what a massive result that was.”
The manager explained he had now watched the match twice, as he woke his children up at 06:00 to see a recording.
“I didn’t tell them the result, and they’ve had the shock of their lives,” he added.
“Now they’re buzzing – they’re tired but they’re buzzing, there’s that feel-good factor as well.”
Michelle, from Evesham in Worcestershire, made a quick move to watch part of the game at Birmingham Airport’s car park.
She was there early to pick up her husband from a work trip, with two daughters in tow, and they were “trying to get some sleep”.
But Michelle was distracted by the “buzz” from people around her who were coming off their flights, excited to watch the match.
“There was a couple of cheers and I jumped out of the car and… ran over to a taxi driver who was watching it on his phone, so I managed to get the second goal and then also our penalty,” she told BBC Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine.
“I got so excited when Harry Kane scored that I hit the guy on the shoulder.”
“I didn’t get to see the whole game because obviously the taxi driver had to go off and do his job.”
Even the BBC Weather Watchers are getting in on the England action.
User Hazlenut posted this image, taken in Penkridge, Staffordshire, remarking they were “over the moon this morning”.
But spare a thought for those who tried and failed to stay up for the match, including BBC Radio WM presenter and former Olympian Katharine Merry.
“I ploughed on through yesterday, thinking I’m not going to take a tactical nap,” she explained.
The match was delayed an hour to 02:00 “and me and the husband thought we might go and have a little snooze, a little nap, and then he wanders off”, she said.
“Half past one I was still awake, all still bright-eyed, and kind of bushy-tailed, and then I went horizontal and dozed off.
“Husband never came back up, I woke up at half past six and missed everything.”
Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Discover more from NAIRAVOICE.COM.NG
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
