Who would have thought that Stockport could hold the keys to ending England’s 58-year wait for a men’s senior international trophy.
In 2022, the Lionesses ended the major trophy drought by beating Germany at Wembley. Then, a year later, the men’s U21’s defeated Spain 1-0 out in Georgia to claim more English international success.
Come Sunday, it could be three international honours in the last three years for England if Gareth Southgate’s side defeat Spain in Berlin to win Euro 2024. And if they do, then the streets of Stockport in Greater Manchester will have played a pivotal part in seeing the Three Lions over the line.
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Three of Southgate’s squad all hail from Stockport, with Manchester City’s Phil Foden, Manchester United’s Kobbie Mainoo and Chelsea’s Cole Palmer all having played a key role in helping England reach their second consecutive Euros final.
Mainoo’s introduction into the England starting XI has given the Three Lions balance in the middle of the park. Against the Netherlands, Foden had his best game of the tournament and was unlucky not to have scored.
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Then there’s Palmer, who left City last summer in order to play regular first-team football.
The Chelsea star, who has enjoyed a magnificent season, replaced Foden against the Dutch and went on to provide the dramatic assist for Ollie Watkins’ late semi-final winner that booked England’s place in the Euro 2024 final.
And the trio’s footballing identity was formed within a 10-mile Stockport triangle. Following England’s pre-Euro 2024 friendlies, Palmer returned home to the Black Boy Pub in Wythenshawe to watch their local pub team, who his dad Jermaine played for.
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“There was a presentation night,” explained Palmer’s first coach, NJ Wythenshawe’s Graeme Folwer to the Daily Mail. “He didn’t give out the awards, just came to show his face. Everyone knows him so nobody bothers him.
“The kids come up asking for pictures and autographs and he does all that. He knows what a role model he is. But then he can just sit there and relax. He’s not got everyone all over him. It’s a big family.”
Just six miles away from the Black Boy pub is the indoor Box Football, where Man United star Mainoo honed his craft in his early years – which seems a paradox in itself given he is only 19.
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And then there’s Foden, nicknamed ‘the Stockport Iniesta’, who at his first club, Reddish Vulcans, had a “bus stop of scouts” waiting for him when he finished his games.
“This is my 30th year at Vulcans and nobody [other than Foden] has given that immediate sense of ‘this could be a special occasion’,” Foden’s first coach Joe Makin said.
“We had three — Phil, Diego Latte and Mace Goodridge — who went to City at Under 9. So we put a piece on the website. All I put about Phil was, ‘Foden, Phil Foden: remember the name — a left foot to die for.’
“He was smaller than the other boys, definitely quieter. He didn’t have a lot to say for himself — still doesn’t really!”
Grab your free cut out lion’s mane in tomorrow’s Daily Star Sunday and wear it to back the boys against Spain