It was one of legendary entertainer and television personality Sir Bruce Forsyth’s most famous catchphrases on the Generation Game. Didn’t They Do well?

Come on, you must remember settling down in front of the box in the ’70s and early ‘80s on a Saturday Night with a packet of cheese ‘n onion, a beer – or in my case a glass of red (purely for medicinal purposes, of course) – to watch this fantastic entertainer I had the pleasure to meet – my late mother loved him. Just as she would have loved watching England in the Euros’. And didn’t they do well.

I couldn’t believe my eyes seeing the way we played in the Euros 21, well 2020 actually due to Covid – was I actually watching an England team that was keeping the ball, passing, bringing it out of defence calmly and not treating it like a hot potato? It’s something I have not seen for, yes, 55 years.

How many times have we settled in front of the television in anticipation of major tournaments only to be disappointed and to then have the indignity of taking our England flags down halfway through a tournament? But not this time.

Our performances were superb, strategically well thought out. Well done Gareth! And his team. We beat Germany, yes Germany our old rivals. I texted Harry Redknapp before the game and he said it is the worst German side he has come across for 25 years, “We should take them” he told me and how right he was.

Obviously, I have to talk about the penalties as many people frequently stop me in the old Stratford Shopping Centre and ask, how difficult is it to take a penalty from 12 yards?

My answer is to imagine having many driving lessons and then on the day of your test you know anything could happen – you know you’re nervous. It is good to be nervous and professional footballers are used to playing in front of big crowds they love it or they wouldn’t do it.

No excuses, we should have buried those penalties – head down, pick your spot in your mind and hit the ball through your laces, none of these dummies, shimmies, or stop-start.

But having said that it shows you how confident some of our young players were – we’ll be back!!!

Following the tragic events involving Christian Ericksen, I opened up my black book to get support for the sporting authorities to fund Cardiology Units and signed up my pals Gary Lineker, John Barnes, Harry Redknapp (Poplar Boy) and Vinny Samways to support more information here.

The Heartbeat Campaign was launched on ITV’s flagship breakfast show Good Morning Britain where we are asking that every football club, and that includes the 42,000 clubs affiliated to the FA, should have a defibrillator and someone medically trained to use it.

Finally, we should all be very proud of our England team. Remember Italy didn’t even qualify for the last World Cup and we reached the semi-finals. This time we made the final – we have come a long way and we’ll make it yet!

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