England fans have been getting the beers in very early (Image: Humphrey Nemar)
The party in Berlin started early last night as up to 60,000 England fans began to arrive for the Euro 2024 final on Sunday.
They were greeted by the classic English weather of pouring rain but that didn’t stop their optimistic mood as they headed to bars across the German capital.
Getting the weekend started with pints of beer were twin brothers Adam and Kynan Bowes, 26, and their friend Todd Moore, 25, from Whitehaven, Cumbria.
The trio were so confident of England making the final that they booked the trip six weeks ago – saving a huge amount of money in the process.
But they know many others who made expensive last-minute plans to travel. After England won their semi-final on Wednesday night, airlines and hotels charged several times their usual prices for the few flights and rooms that were available.
England fans in Berlin could watch the Three Lions lift their first trophy in nearly 60 years (Image: Humphrey Nemar)
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Kynan said of the England fans: "We’re going to outnumber Spain massively. If you look on all the websites the Spanish tickets are for sale. They’ll probably be around 50,000 English in there on Sunday. So we’ll have a proper atmosphere, it’ll be a home crowd [for England]."
They also supported the team during the group games and said the atmosphere among England fans was “immense”, despite the sometimes lacklustre performances by Gareth Southgate’s men.
"Apart from the game against Holland we’ve outnumbered the fans in every single stadium," said Todd. "The atmosphere’s been great and we’ve been the loudest – we’re behind the team no matter how we play."
Given the scenes of chaos and disorder that ruined England’s last Euro final at Wembley in 2021, the German police are taking precautions to avoid any problems.
Berlin’s chief police inspector Valeska Jakubowski said up to 4,000 officers will be on duty for the final.
She added: "The Berlin police are drawing on the operational experience gained so far during the tournament through the previous matches of the English national team.
"The operational concept includes, among other things, a strong police presence throughout the city and at connected venues, as well as ongoing intelligence gathering by uniformed and civilian police forces in the city, on the internet and through national and international information intelligence.
"We will intervene quickly and consistently if we identify any criminal offences or dangers."
For England supporters travelling without tickets, Berlin has two huge fan parks with large screens – at the Brandenburg Gate and on the Reichstag meadow.
