Fans wait overnight for Lionesses return – but team use private airport exit

Around 40 fans turned up at Heathrow on Tuesday morning, but others had arrived on Monday night

Gwyn Wright
Tuesday 22 August 2023 12:45 EDT
Jorge Vilda appears to touch Spanish coach's chest during World Cup celebrations

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The Lionesses landed back in the UK on Tuesday after their World Cup final defeat – but fans that gathered at the airport to welcome them home were left disappointed after the players were escorted out through a back door.

Around 40 well-wishers brought England flags and handmade banners to Heathrow Airport, with one group having waited all night, but the team are understood to have left via a private exit after touching down just after 6.30am.

Others brought flowers for head coach Sarina Wiegman, while placards featured messages saying, “You all made us proud,” and “Can we have two T-shirts please?”

Hopes were raised when former England player and presenter Alex Scott was spotted walking through arrivals, with fans saying she hinted the team would follow. The crowd burst out into chants of “Sweet Caroline”. The team’s bags with the squad logo were also carried through.

Hope turned to disappointment when it was later confirmed by airport staff that the Lionesses had left the airport and the crowd soon dispersed. A small number of fans watched at arrivals for a little longer just to be sure they had not missed out on any action.

Joanne Bruce, 51, travelled from Wisbech in Cambridgeshire to the airport at 10.30pm on Monday with her niece and sister in the hope of thanking the team for their tournament performance. She told the PA news agency: “We haven’t slept, we have just laughed and joked. It was just the three of us to start with. My sister was like, ‘I really want to go early’.”

When asked if there any other fans were at the airport then she replied: “No, no, no. They didn’t come until about four o’clock this morning. We have now got a car parking ticket of £70 [or] £80, maybe more.

“I was very, very disappointed,” Ms Bruce said about the final result which saw England miss out on World Cup glory. “Seeing Millie [Bright] with tears in her eyes, it just brought tears to my eyes. I really felt for them as well. They have definitely done us proud, to get as far as they did.”

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in