Euro 2020: Thank you England for giving us hope - editor's comment

We’ve been waiting 55 long years for England to win a major footballing trophy. And tonight that wait goes on.

We will all be devastated. Having got so far, got to the final, been so close to lifting the trophy and to lose is heartbreaking.

I won’t go into the ins and outs of the match, I will leave that to the experts.

But what we should all be is proud, I know I am.

Gareth Southgate and his team have given us hope, in a time where there was little hope elsewhere.

The team have been impressive, they have achieved great things and have done themselves proud.

But Euro 2020 hasn’t just been about the football.

Throughout this tournament our minds have been distracted from Covid, from lockdowns and restrictions.

It has given us some normality, and as the team made it through each round it gave us hope. Hope that we could win, hope that life is somehow returning to normal.

Fans were allowed back into Wembley. Fans gathered in pubs to watch the matches with their mates. Families got together to watch the games after months of limited contact.

We’ve been able to celebrate and our lives started to seem more normal, back to how we were pre-Covid.

This England team have helped unite a nation.

Yes, right now it hurts, but once the raw emotion begins to fade we will realise what this team has done for us.

Thank you for making us believe.

Thank you for making us proud.

Thank you for giving us hope.

Editor’s message: Support your Chad by becoming a digital subscriber. You will see 70 per cent fewer ads on stories, meaning faster load times and an overall enhanced user experience. Click here to subscribe.