IN the afterglow of shooting the Lionesses to Euros victory, striker Chloe Kelly told the watching world: “I’m so proud to be English!”
For a player from , , Ireland, or the US, a simple exclamation of in their homeland nation would go unremarked.
Here in it sparked a social media frenzy.
Some half-jokingly wondered whether such publicly avowed patriotism would elicit a knock on the door from cops.
One X user posted a picture of officers on a door camera with the caption: “Hi , here, we just need to speak to you about your nationalistic outburst.”
Posters were referencing the new elite police squad set up by the to , aimed to prevent a .
As we see time and time again, expressing a love for and displaying a can erroneously be interpreted by those who wish to divide us as Far Right rabble-rousing.
So we shall watch and wait to see who gets caught up in this new net.
Hopefully it wil not trouble our new net queen, hero goalie who also evoked her Englishness in a post-match interview.
“We’ve shown during this tournament that we can come back when we go a goal down, we have that grit, ,” she told TV viewers.
That two young women - part of a diverse team that reflects modern England - were happy to express pride in their homeland should be a wake-up call to our nation’s elite, falling over themselves to praise ’s aces since Sunday night’s stunning win.
This new flowering of Englishness comes in an era where it’s become fashionable to talk the country down and smother it with colonial guilt.
Many on the metropolitan left in Britain have long had a sneering disdain for the emblems of the nation.
In 2014, of a Medway home with England flags flying and a white van in the drive saw her resign from the then Labour Shadow Cabinet.
The following year fellow Islington MP , who was then Labour’s leader, failed to sing the National Anthem at a service to mark the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.
Not only did it appear an affront to the memory of “The Few” - those who had lost their lives in the history-defining conflict - it was also bad politics.
This new flowering of Englishness comes in an era where it’s become fashionable to talk the country down and smother it with colonial guilt
Labour signalled that it was drifting away from its traditional, patriotic working-class base who loved their country, their flag, their monarchy and their team.
Sir recognised Labour’s patriotic deficit late in the day, the piping up about his pride in the nation and instigating the singing of the National Anthem at party conference.
Later, Corbyn, now in the throes of setting up a new hard left party (don’t expect it to have a Union Jack emblem), called singing God Save The King at Labour’s annual get-together “very, very odd”.
Such sentiments drove away voters in the so-called “red wall” constituencies in the north.
Little wonder that as the Starmer project flounders, - unafraid to fly the flag - have now found fertile ground in once Labour heartlands.
English patriotism has long hid its light under a bushel - not helped by the St George Cross being adopted by far-right knuckle draggers like the English Defence League.
Compare the comparably muted St George’s Day celebrations to the green carnival of St Patrick’s Day. In America, with a bloody history to rival Britain’s, Old Glory is hung from garden flag poles across the land, whether the owner is Republican or Democrat.
Some argue that our patriotic reserve is part of the essence of Englishness.
Chloe and Hannah showed the world they were gutsy, skilled, confident, joyous - and proud to be English
Yet, and Hannah Hampton wore their national pride on their sleeve.
It was remarkable for being such a rarity in English public life.
Former Government special adviser James Price wrote on X: “I haven’t heard anyone on telly say that about England in so long.
“For all the sneering from some quarters, that’s just such a wonderful thing to hear. Much more of this please, in all kinds of arenas.”
Much has been made of the British - as well as English - preoccupation with our victorious role in World War Two.
Yet, standing alone against - real fascists not someone misgendering you on social media - was a crowning achievement of the British Empire, with theatres of war in Africa and Asia as well as .
Swell with pride
The number of red poppies displayed on St George flags is testimony to how important it remains to our national story.
After the war - under Clement Attlee’s Labour government - a sense of patriotic purpose and unity helped rebuild Britain.
A shared togetherness can work wonders for the economy and the national mood.
Remember Cool Britannia in the 1990s when the nation revelled in its identity? It was a soft power and financial winner.
Everyone has their own sense of Englishness in a land that produced the likes of , Jane Austen, Charles Darwin, Florence Nightingale, , Agatha Christie and Sir Isaac Newton, to name but a few.
For some it’s rolling moorlands of the Pennines and Cumbria, others might choose dining out on chicken tikka masala or dancing to dub reggae at the .
Many will swell with pride re-watching wiping his muddied hands before accepting the World Cup from the Queen.
Now the Lionesses have roared and added their story to our national identity.
Chloe and Hannah showed the world they were gutsy, skilled, confident, joyous - and proud to be English.
