‘We are getting into the spirit’published at 19:17 British Summer Time
England v France (20:00 BST)
Ellie Thomason
BBC Sport at Stadion Letzigrund
I walked past Chris and Lisa on my way into the stadium and could see them struggling to get their flag into a selfie, so I offered to take a photo for them. We got chatting and their story gave me a lump in my throat.
The couple from Oldham are in Switzerland for four weeks and have tickets for all of England’s group games, plus the quarter and semi-final should the Lionesses progress.
They are flying home after the France game for the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the London 7/7 Bombings – where Chris’ cousin was killed – before returning to Switzerland for the Netherlands and Wales games.
“I had a bad year last year,” Chris said. “My mum and dad both died within six weeks of each other. One of the last England matches we watched my dad was in hospital and he said ‘you have to get yourself to Switzerland next year’, so here we are.
“We are getting into the spirit and making the most of it. I have spent about £8,000 on hotels. I’ve just sold my mum and dad’s house so it’s like a gift from them.”
