England hosted Greece at Wembley Stadium connected by EE on Thursday evening, as the Three Lions suffered a 2-1 defeat in the UEFA Nations League.
A brace from Greece forward Vangelis Pavlidis, with goals either side of a Jude Bellingham equaliser meant Lee Carsley’s team lost in front of a sold-out stadium, but there was more than just the action on the pitch taking place at Wembley.
See below for five things you might’ve missed from the evening.
Paul Elliott’s Black History Month celebration
With the game taking place in Black History Month, the first Black player to captain Chelsea, Paul Elliott CBE, hosted a special table in the Wembley Suite.
His guests included former England players Kerry Davis, Jermain Defoe and Eni Aluko, as well as former Aston Villa, West Ham and Germany international Thomas Hitzlsperger, the granddaughter of Jack Leslie, Lesley Hiscox, and co-founder of the Jack Leslie Campaign, Greg Foxsmith. The FA also extended an invitation to Doreen Lawrence, whose son Stephen would have turned 50 last month. The Baroness was accompanied by two of her grandchildren.
Three Lions return
There was a different viewpoint of Wembley for Kieran Trippier, as the Newcastle United man swapped the pitch for the Wembley Suite. Trippier was back at the national stadium to be presented with his last cap following his retirement from international football earlier this year.
Also in attendance were former England men’s senior players Lee Hendrie, Seth Johnson and Tony Woodcock.
Tribute time
Last week saw the passing of Kick It Out founder Lord Herman Ouseley, a key figure in the fight against racism and campaigner for equality in the game. And Wembley paid tribute to Herman before the game and current Kick It Out chair Sanjay Bhandari was a guest in the Wembley Suite on the evening.
And on the eve of Thursday’s game, both English and Greek football was shocked by the passing of George Baldock, at the age of 31. The former Sheffield United player had represented Greece at international level and was playing in Athens for Panathinaikos. Both teams and the crowd held a period of silence ahead of kick-off in tribute to Baldock. The emotional celebrations from the Greek players at full time were supplemented by Pavlidis later dedicating his goals and the result to his former international teammate.
Olympic heroes receive Wembley welcome
Following the Paris 2024 Olympic Games earlier this year, we were also pleased to welcome no fewer than 12 Team GB athletes who collected medals in the summer.
Swimming gold medallist Kieran Bird, women’s rowing gold medallist Emily Craig and three members of the men’s eight rowing team who landed gold in Jacob Dawson, Rory Gibbs and James Rudkin were all guests.
Also in attendance were bronze medallists Jeremiah Azu (men’s 4x100m), Lewis Davey (men’s 4x400m), Hannah Kelly (women’s 4x400m), Rowan McKellar (women’s eight rowing), Victoria Ohuruogu (women’s 4x400m), Sam Reardon (men’s 4x400m and mixed 4x400m), Hattie Taylor (women’s eight rowing) along with Paralympic athlete Andy Lapthorne.
Kane’s moment in print
Despite a minor injury ruling him out of the game, Three Lions skipper Harry Kane was featured on the front cover of the match programme, following his 100th cap picked up against Finland last month.
Inside the pages, there were features with Dominic Solanke, Tino Livramento and MU21s striker Liam Delap along with an interview with former Greece, Newcastle and Leicester City player Nikos Dabizas and much more. You can order a copy of the programme online now.
