Whether you are a natural follower of football or not, it's difficult to avoid the excitement of Euro 2020

It’s the talk of the town, street, neighbourhood, family - you name it the Euros are hot news currently. Whether you’re a follower of football or not, this competition, called Euro 2020 as it was postponed from last year due to the Covid pandemic, is catching the public’s imagination.

Every night millions of people tune in to their tv’s to watch the latest installment. The crowds are there, albeit in lesser numbers than normal, but they are nevertheless there, Adding atmosphere after the months of empty stands & crowd noise added by soundmen to generate some kind of feeling of human reaction.

In countless clubs, pubs & homes, the interest generated is enormous. Sport can be a common bond between people who wouldn’t necessarily strike up a conversation.

Likewise in schools across the country, football is also gaining prominence during this competition. 10 year old Macey Wright, a pupil at a local Swindon school, had no interest or even faint knowledge of football before the Euros. But at her primary school in the village of Broadhinton, pupils in her class were given a country to support, in her case Austria. And then they learnt all about not only this country but all the 24 nations taking part, including what their flags look like. She is now genuinely interested in what the scores are, and which teams are competing on the tv at home. Not that her Mum Gemma says she is ever likely to take this further by wanting to play football, but still it’s generated interest which otherwise wouldn’t be there.

For young footballers the Euros are a huge help to encourage the sport. Football academies are well known as being breeding grounds for top talent & Manchester United ranks as one of the best in the world, let alone the UK. Likewise Arsenal, Manchester City & Southampton Football Clubs have well respected academies.

Players as young as 17 are playing in this year’s Euros - or UEFA Football Championship. Just six days after England’s Jude Bellingham created history by becoming the youngest player in the Euros at 17 years and 349 days, Poland’s Kacper Kozlowski took that place by coming on as a second half-substitute against Spain at 17 years and 246 days. And at the other end of the spectrum you have hardened goal scoring legends like Cristiano Ronaldo who’s equalled the men’s international goal record of 109 goals after scoring two goals for Portugal against France at Euro 2020.

In fact this isn’t a new competition - but has its origins as far back as 1927 when the French football Federation’s secretary-general Henry Delaunay proposed the idea. It wasn’t until 1958 that the tournament was started, three years after Delaunay’s death.

Some people buy personalised sports garments like design your own sports shirts especially showing their support for a particular soccer player, otherwise it could be their number as a more indirect reference on a garment or personalised water bottle. There’s a deep loyalty by fans to football clubs throughout the UK. Whatever the result of the Euros Final 2020, you can bet that the 60,000 people able to attend Wembley stadium in London at 75% of its capacity, will consider themselves lucky. No longer a roar from a sound tape, but the ‘live’ roar of a crowd in one of the country’s landmark sports arenas - a site to behold post Covid.