England fans face a frantic scramble for European Championship final tickets, hotels and plane seats as prices soar and availability lessens after Gareth Southgate’s side heroically came from behind to beat the Dutch last night, sending the nation into delirium.
Some England fans were flying home from Berlin today, refusing to pay ‘extortionate’ sums to see the Three Lions and said they would prefer to watch it on television rather than pay touts.
To see England face Spain on Sunday evening, supporters are being asked to pay a king’s ransom online for a seat at the Olympiastadion Berlin, which has a 74,000 capacity.
Tickets on re-sale sites were being offered from around £2000 and one site was demanding a staggering £10,500 for a chance to see The Three Lions end 58 years of heartbreak.
Meanwhile some hospitality tickets for the game are being flogged for as much as £40,000.
Getting to the Euros is a different matter entirely however as prominent airlines including Ryanair and British Airways have announced all seats to Berlin from now until the match are sold out.
Other fans have proclaimed they will instead be travelling to Benidorm where throughout the Euros, England fans have been seen celebrating joyously after each match and drinking long into to the night.
The country is expected to grind to a halt on Sunday evening with pubs, clubs and arenas packed out to show the game and supermarkets including Tesco closing early so staff can watch the match.
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Prime Minister Keir Starmer has confirmed he will attend the final in person in Berlin where he could sit with Prince William, who as a patron of the FA was present at England’s Quarter Final clash with Switzerland.
It is not currently known of any members of the Royal Family will attend the game.
Members of the England Supporters Travel Club members, who are entered into ballots, face an agonising wait to see if they are successful later today.
But even those who do receive official tickets will find Berlin ramping up hotel prices and airlines cashing in.
Berlin’s Hilton Hotel is demanding 1425 Euros for Sunday night when the match is played, but the next night the price drops to 136 Euros.
Another Berlin hotel, the Waldorf Astoria which is also a Hiton Hotel, is asking 13,300 Euros for Sunday night, but the following night the price reduces to 280 Euros.
For a room at the Berlin Marriott, through Hotels.com, the fee is £2258, yet the following night the price is £269.
Fed up fans slammed the lack of tickets for the match and asked for more to be done to stop seats being sold at ramped up prices.
One England fan in Berlin Steve Sinclair was flying home to Basingstoke, refusing to be ‘ripped off’ for the chance to see England in the final.
Mr Sinclair, 43, an IT consultant said: ‘The prices being asked for tickets is disgusting. This happens time after time to big concerts and football.
‘These tickets should only be in the hands of real fans the whole way. It means so much to me as an England fan to see the team play.
‘I was in the fan zone here last night watching the semi-final with Holland and I got quite emotional towards the end.
‘I was thinking of what it must feel like to be there and see Harry Kane lift the trophy. We haven’t been playing that well, but I have this feeling we are going to do it and I just wish me and my mates could be there.’
His friend Stuart Jarvis, 43, added: ‘We were offered two tickets last night for the final for £3,000. But we are not paying that money. I wish I could, but I have got a family back at home.’
Postman Darren Gillbanks said: ‘Something has to be done to prevent this really sad situation which comes around every time England play in a major tournament.
‘I am going home from a city where England play in a major final this weekend, when I would love to be there. But everything is so expensive.’
Airline prices have also taken off as fans clamour to reach Berlin for the 9pm Sunday night kick-off.
British Airways seats are selling fast despite the increased prices being charged.
The airline can best offer a flight from London Heathrow on Sunday which lands at Berlin Brandenburg Airport at 8.15pm, leaving fans just 45 minutes to make the kick-off.
All flights by British Airways on its website for Saturday are listed as ‘unavailable.’
BA return flights on Monday and Tuesday are also selling fast at increased prices. Other airlines are doing brisk business and many can only offer flights via other cities.
The FA will begin selling tickets tomorrow to supporter members after sending confirmation emails and online access codes tonight.
Bryan Turner, 34, from Swindon, said he had £1000 to spend for a seat for Sunday’s final, but was hoping to find a German fan who had bought a ticket in the hope that his country would reach the match.
Mr Turner, a financial adviser, said: ‘I’ll pay £1,000 if I have to. But I got into Berlin from Dortmund overnight because I want to beat the rush tomorrow and Saturday.
‘I am hoping there will be a German who just wants rid of his ticket quickly and might accept a monkey( £500) for it,’
Other England fans have fared better, however they have put in the hard yards to achieve it.
Harry Barnes has been following England in Germany since their first game and secured a ticket for the final last week.
He told : ‘We came out on June 15th and have been travelling around. I bought my final ticket last week for £1700, two days ago my mates managed to get there’s for £100 after Germany went out. I’m happy for them, but also fuming.
‘It’s been a great experience; we’ve been to every England game bar the Slovakia one as the train we were on broke down on the way to the stadium.
‘I checked this morning and tickets are £2100 plus. After you factor in flights and accommodation – nobody is getting to that final without spending at least £4000 now – and that’s before you spend any money on food and drink.’
The Spanish holiday resort of Benidorm has long been popular for Brits but during the Euros it has become a strange hotspot for England fans who can’t get out to Germany.
Throughout the tournament, viral videos of England fans dancing in the street have gone viral on social media after matches.
It is expected thousands of England supporters not able to get to Berlin will line the streets of the resort on Sunday evening, despite Spain’s draconian drinking laws.
Many supporters who have not already purchased a match ticket are unlikely to obtain one as the game is sold out on Uefa’s website.
A limited number of tickets are available to England Supporters Travel Club members who have been to a number of previous England matches.
Those who cannot afford to chance it in Germany are now feverishly weighing up where to watch the game with venues across the country fully booked for weeks.
To ease demand, the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has announced that the O2 arena will host London’s largest screening of the game with balloted tickets going on offer at 10am.
Last night’s clash was watched by an estimated 30million people at home.
People across England partied into the early hours as they paid tribute to their heroes, with chants of ‘It’s coming home’ echoing long into the night following the stunning 2-1 victory as football fans revelled in the atmosphere.
The scenes of euphoria were widespread – in fan zones in London and Manchester, there were scenes of wild celebration, while pubs and bars across the country were full of happy punters before spilling out into the streets in the early morning after last orders.
Even US indie rockers The Killers got involved, playing the last moments of the match on a big screen during their gig at the O2 Arena in London, before barrelling into a rousing rendition of Mr Brightside.
There were also scenes of ecstasy in Dortmund where the match was being played with super-sub Watkins, who came on to replace captain Harry Kane – who himself had brought England level with a penalty in the first-half to cancel out Xavi Simons’ wonder strike – touchingly sharing the moment with his mother and girlfriend.
Many joyous members of the Barmy Army will be feeling the effects of their celebrations this morning as they drag themselves to work, but the thought that England might finally break their trophy duck later this week might go some way to soothing their pain.
England’s star-studded squad were supported in Dortmund by an army of WAGs and celebrities including Adele and Ed Sheeran as they reached their first ever Euros final on foreign soil.
Southgate’s squad will now attempt to go one step further than Euro 2020, when they also reached the final but lost to Italy on penalties at Wembley.
Nervous England fans suffered early heartbreak when Simons opened the scoring with a thunderbolt shortly after kick-off. But their agony turned into euphoria when Kane equalised from the spot in the 18th minute.
With the game heading to extra-time again, Watkins – who had only been on the pitch nine minutes – clinched a historic winner in the 90th minute, prompting England’s substitutes to run onto the pitch, as pints flew across pubs and fan zones at home.
Among the England fans watching was Sir Keir Starmer who managed to catch Kane’s goal in a room with his Dutch counterpart – as they are both in Washington for the Nato summit.
The Prime Minister got out of his seat as the spot-kick was drilled home, then shook hands with the Netherlands’ PM Dick Schoof.
Sir Keir, who has confirmed that he will attend the final in Berlin on Sunday, posted on X: ‘Picked the right moment to pop out from Nato meetings and check the score…’
Kane’s penalty was controversially awarded by VAR after he went down from a Denzel Dumfries challenge in the aftermath of blazing a strike over the crossbar. But the England captain was not going to complain – and made no mistake in dispatching the penalty into the corner.
In a much-improved England performance, the Three Lions then nearly doubled their lead as Phil Foden danced around several defenders in the box before rolling the ball under the keeper only to see his effort hooked off the line by Dumfries at the critical moment.
The heavily-involved Dumfries almost made amends for giving away a penalty minutes later as he crashed a header off the bar from a corner.
But an electric England pushed for another and Foden came inches away from doing so, curling a stunning effort against the woodwork himself, before the break.
During the half-time break, ITV’s Mark Pougatch paid tribute to BBC commentator John Hunt – whose wife and two daughters were allegedly shot dead with a crossbow in their home in Bushey, Hertfordshire, last night.
ITV commentator Sam Matterface then said: ‘That echoes our thoughts, a wonderful commentator and a wonderful man.’
In the second-half, England carried on from where they left as Saka drove to the byline and pulled the ball back, but had no support with him.
With 30 minutes remaining, the Netherlands came back into the game, seeing more of the ball as the semi-final became more even as England fans watched the game through their fingers.
Their pressure almost paid off as Virgil Van Dijk forced a smart save out of Pickford to keep the scores level in the 65th minute.
England fans were sent into raptures again with 11 minutes to go as Saka gave the Three Lions the lead, finishing off a brilliant team goal. But their cheers soon turned to despair as the offside flag ruled that Walker – who cut the ball back for Saka – was offside in the lead-up.
Moving into the final seven minutes, Marc Guehi brilliantly intervened to block Wout Weghorst from scoring at the other end.
And the memory of Saka’s goal being ruled out was all forgotten about when Cole Palmer played Ollie Watkins in, who swiveled his body and fired a strike into the bottom left corner with seconds to go to send England to Berlin.
Shortly after full-time, King Charles and Queen Camilla congratulated the team, with a statement. His Majesty said: ‘My wife and I join all our family in wishing you the warmest congratulations on reaching the final of the U.E.F.A. European Championship – and in sending our very best wishes for Sunday’s match.
‘If I may encourage you to secure victory before the need for any last minute wonder-goals or another penalties drama, I am sure the stresses on the nation’s collective heart rate and blood pressure would be greatly alleviated! Good luck, England. Charles R.’
Prince William, the president of the FA and a lifelong Aston Villa fan, tweeted: ‘What a beauty, Ollie! Congratulations England! #EURO2024 Finalists. W.’