Celebrating the Lionesses’ Euros win with Serge at Tramlines

When I arrived at Hillsborough Park on 27 July for the final day of the Tramlines festival, I was entirely oblivious to the historical moment I was about to witness. The weather, however, seemed to be preparing me for the moment. It was blissfully hot, and just bright enough to make me regret staying out quite so late the night before – especially without bringing any sunglasses to the festival. Yet here I was, ready for my first-ever festival experience. And what a one it would be.

It was just after CMAT’s set that the game kicked off. Squashing through the crowd flooding from her stage to where The Last Dinner Party were shortly due to perform, it was difficult to keep up with the score, and the game faded to the backs of our minds, though we were alert to each and every distant cheer we heard, just in case it meant a score for England. As it turned out, Abigail Morris herself was the one to announce the Lionesses goal, when hope was low as Spain lead us by halftime. Halfway through her set, and between songs, Morris paused, hand to her ear, and announced the score to uproarious cheering.

It was a long hour of struggling through the park’s quite tragic signal, desperate for a clue of how the game stood

The band not only made sure to keep us updated as they performed – according to their Instagram, they’d been sat backstage watching the game on a tiny phone screen like the rest of us. Drinking pre-show pints at the same time, naturally.

With the easy mood-booster of an England goal, The Last Dinner Party finished a fantastic set with their famous song ‘Nothing Matters’, and we dispersed once again to wait for the headliners, Kasabian, to come on stage.

It was a long hour of queuing for frankly extortionate food, and struggling through the park’s quite tragic signal, desperate for a clue of how the game stood. My friend and I resorted to half-shouting across at anyone who seemed to have a working phone, asking if they had the score. Somehow, we’d apparently found the one corner of Sheffield where no-one was interested in the footy: no one had a clue.

Admittedly, I’ve never been an avid football follower myself, but a second Euros win in a row is the sort of thing that could drag anyone into the spirit. I feel obliged, however, to set the record straight. When it comes to sports, I am a Wales supporter first and foremost.

Welsh rugby was a staple of my household growing up, where my granny would make the six-hour journey up north to visit us, only to spend any free moment with the telly on, watching the Six Nations and yelling at my dad to come quick, they’re about to sco- nevermind. One of my earliest sport traumas was the much-anticipated England-Wales game in the 2016 men’s Euros, where I, along with the only other Welsh-blooded boy in my class, and our friend that we forced to join us, cheered quietly for that one Wales goal in a tough game for the Welsh. All that to say, supporting England is a second choice, after Wales has been knocked out. Which, at the moment, doesn’t seem to take very long.

When Kelly brought it home, the park exploded. Beer cans flew, voices were screamed hoarse. And once the roars died down, out came Kasabian to celebrate

Eventually, the organisers of Tramlines took pity on us, and got the game up on the big screen either side of the main stage. By the time we realised, so had half the park it seemed, and space was at a premium. We shuffled and wriggled our way between vape clouds and gangs of bucket hat-bearing fifteen-year-olds to get a good view, and watched with equal parts glee and horror as extra time dragged on, and Kasabian’s set drew closer. With Full-time coming only 12 minutes before the band were due to begin, fear set in as to whether we’d even get to see the conclusion of the match before the screens swapped game for gig.

Hope built as Spain missed, and England scored. When Kelly brought it home, the park exploded. Beer cans flew, voices were screamed hoarse. And once the roars died down, out came Kasabian to celebrate the Lionesses’ stunning defence of the title with us. Dedicating ‘Club Foot’ and our cheers to the team, Serge performed with all the energy he could muster. On their Instagram page, they shouted them out again, captioning their post “What a weekend!!! Insane crowds, new heights! Colliding with the @lionesses massive win!”

And what a weekend it was. For my first ever music festival, I chose a pretty fantastic day. Every performance was incredible and the energy, as Tramlines themselves said, was unmatched.