“The women have turned back the clock,” Baddiel, one of the trio behind the success, told BBC Radio 4’s Today program after the victory, which erased 56 years since England failed to win a trophy. While the England men’s team are yet to turn back the clock, having reached the final of Euro 2020 only to lose on penalties, Baddiel added that “football continues with its ups and downs”. The Three Lions song by Baddiel, Frank Skinner and the Lightning Seeds was written in 1996 and has been sung almost religiously at almost every England game since, embedding itself in the country’s footballing culture. When asked if it was now time to retire the song along with decades of melancholy, Baddiel said: “I’m very happy to think that the song will, in a way, be put to sleep.” Fans, however, might feel differently the next time England lose, he said. “It was beautiful to hear it sung from Wembley yesterday as we finally made a final, I really thought that was never going to happen,” said Baddiel. “It’s so amazing to actually think, ‘Oh, we won, that’s not happening, it really happened.’ In the spirit of the Lionesses, described as “joyous” by Baddiel, the players crashed coach Sarina Wiegman’s post-match press conference, singing the tune as they marched in front of reporters, with the players going so far as to dance on a table. Baddiel recalled the first time the song was sung at Wembley in 1996 as England beat Scotland. The chorus “It’s coming home” refers to the fact that when the song was released, England were hosting their first major football tournament since the 1966 World Cup. “Basically nobody knew the song had taken root at that point,” Baddiel said. “At the end of the game, the DJ played the song and 87,000 people spontaneously joined in, which is amazing.” Baddiel added: “Supposedly the best day of your life is when your children are born – I’m not so sure about that.” Watching the song move into the hearts of a crowd of nearly 90,000 on Sunday as England claimed the European title in a 2-1 win against Germany, years later and in front of a different crowd, Baddiel said he was proud the song had become organically linked to England. the team and football. Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST “We’re talking about soccer, we’re just assuming you mean men’s soccer. “Football doesn’t belong to men by default – that’s something I think has become clear very recently,” he added. “It’s the same game, played by women or played by men. What has been very bright in recent weeks is the sense that the country can overcome this in the same way. We won, not the women. We have won.”
