England’s glamorous army of WAGs were out in force tonight as they get ready to cheer on their men during the Three Lion’s match against Slovenia.
Donning their England shirts, the nervous wives and girlfriends of the Euro 2024 squad arrived at the Cologne Stadium for their final group fixture.
Dani Dyer, partner of Jarrod Bowen, was seen enjoying a pint and sunning herself in a garden before being one of the first to arrive ahead of tonight’s kick off at 8pm.
Ollie Watkin’s girlfriend Ellie Anderson, who flew out this morning to Germany, was seen in the stands having a chat and giggle with Megan Pickford, wife of England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
Their cheery appearance comes as Gareth Southgate and his squad have been trying in vein to keep the lid on the off-field drama surrounding Kyle Walker‘s martial blow-up.
England’s last game against Denmark was overshadowed after both his wife Annie Kilner and former lover Lauryn Goodman appeared to cheer the defender on in Frankfurt.
The domestic squabble was said to have angered Southgate, who has been grappling to pull together the best team possible as he tries to reinvigorate England’s Euro 2024 campaign.
But just today, insiders at the England camp off-pitch trouble began again after Kieran Trippier‘s wife, who decided not to attend the tournament, set tongues wagging with a cryptic social media message.
Megan Pickford, wife of England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, and Ellie Anderson, girlfriend of Ollie Watkins, pose for a selfie in Cologne Stadium
Tolami Benson, girlfriend of Bukayo Saka looks glamorous in white shorts and her England shirt as she arrives for England’s match against Slovenia
Dani Dyer, partner of Jarrod Bowen , was seen enjoying a pint and sunning herself in a garden before being one of the first to arrive ahead of tonight’s kick off at 8pm.
Kate Goodland, wife of Harry Kane, is seen smiling in the crowd ahead of tonight’s game
England squad head to the pitch ahead of their match against Slovenia
Tripper’s domestic woes were flung into the limelight after Charlotte, 33, posted on Instagram: ‘Sooner or later you get over the s*** you swore you’d never get over and it’s the best feeling in the world.’
Eagle-eyes fans also spotted the WAG, who has remained in the UK with her three children rather than travel to Germany to cheer on her husband, is not following his account, even though he still follows her.
And earlier today Charlotte posted a short film of herself enjoying ‘some calm’ before the school run on her Instragam story, which she has since deleted. The video showed her in a dressing gown looking into the camera pensively.
Yet despite tensions sizzling both ahead of tonight’s final group game and domestically for some of England’s star players, the rest of the team’s loved ones appeared in high spirits this evening.
Star player Bukayo Saka‘s girlfriend Tolami Benson also seemed in high spirits smiling and chatting to people as she wore a pair of white shorts with her England shirt.
Harry Kane’s wife Kate Goodland arrived at the match in Frankfurt Arena and was seen having lively conversation with
Ellie and Megan, who was earlier seen holding her son Jude in the crowd, beamed as they posed for a selfie wearing their sunglasses.
Meanwhile, Jude Bellingham’s proud parents Denise and Mark, arrived early to grab their seats as the England squad warmed up.
Meanwhile, Jude Bellingham’s proud parents Denise and Mark, arrived early to grab their seats as the England squad warmed up
Jude Bellingham’s mother Denise beams as she attends the England vs Slovenia match tonight
Megan Davison, wife of England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, in the stands ahead of the UEFA Euro 2024
Tolami Benson, partner of Bukayo Saka of England England v Slovenia, UEFA European Championship 2024
Despite the huge group of supporters who have turned out to support England tonight there were notable absences.
Tripper’s wife Charlotte has not appeared for any of the squad’s games so far after deciding to stay at home with their children.
Instead of travelling to Germany, Charlotte spent last Friday at popular Newcastle fair The Hoppings, sharing snaps on her Instagram of her day out with the couple’s three youngsters.
Her cryptic post today comes as a source told MailOnline that players’ families had been warned by the FA about the importance of their domestic troubles not leaking out during the Euros because of the impact this might have on their performances.
The source said: ‘Gareth Southgate and the FA will be furious that their approach of trying to keep personal news about the players from appearing in the media during the Euros has failed.
‘The FA has made a big attempt to keep a lid on things, especially when it comes to Kyle Walker but they’ve not been able to stop it, which will be very frustrating for them.
‘It’s actually been a bit of a disaster because first you had Lauryn Goodman going to Germany and now there’s all this speculation surrounding Trippier.’
Charlotte and Kieran are childhood sweethearts, who married in June 2016 and have three children
Charlotte wrote in an Instagram story yesterday: ‘Sooner or later you get over the s*** you swore you’d never get over and it’s the best feeling in the world’
Lauryn Goodman takes her son Kairo to watch his father Kyle Walker for England yesterday
Walker with his wife Annie Kilner and their family after England’s game against Denmark
WAGs that have travelled to Germany include Kyle Walker ‘s wife Annie Kilner and – controversially – his former lover Lauryn Goodman (seen posing with their son, Kairo)
The source added: ‘Before the tournament started all the players’ relatives were told that they shouldn’t speak to the media about any of this.
‘The FA also didn’t want a repeat of what happened during the 2006 World Cup in Baden Baden.
‘That’s why they chose not to have the WAGs staying in Germany for the Euros and there’s been no official hotel for them.’
Another source revealed: ‘All the close relatives of the England players were strictly told that news about their personal lives had to be kept out of the media because it could affect team morale and performance.
‘Relatives were told not to speak to the media if approached by them. But it’s not been easy because some people have gone out of their way to get media attention during the Euros.
‘Southgate will be furious because they’ve not been able to keep down some of this noise, which is bound to affect some of the players.’
The source also suggested that Lauryn, Walker’s ex-lover, has already indicated that she may travel to Germany this weekend for the team’s round of 16 match.
Lauryn, 33, became embroiled in a paternity scandal earlier this year when it emerged the footballer, 34, had fathered her ten-month-old daughter while being married to Annie, 32.
Last week, England’s disappointing draw against Denmark was overshadowed by the controversy as Lauryn and Annie both showed up to watch Walker play, but avoided any confrontation by sitting in separate areas of the stands.
Since that game, which ended in a disappointing 1-1 draw, many pundits were quick to criticise the players for their performance, with comments from BBC presenter Gary Lineker in particular supposedly upsetting ‘some of the team’.
And today’s drama with Trippier’s wife will only exacerbate the mood in the England camp that are set to kick off in the next hour.