Matt Maher: Off-field antics yet again leave a stain on our national game

Even by the time ITV had begun their live broadcast of the Euro 2020 final by detailing unrest outside the stadium, videos of people knocking down or hurdling security fences had gone viral.

Accounts of further unrest continued even as the match was being played. The primary focus was always going to be on events on the pitch at that point, yet the bigger story was already happening elsewhere as what should have been a celebration descended into a day and night of shame.

Reading the accounts of those who were on the scene, there is perhaps cause to be thankful nothing more serious occurred.

It still doesn’t make it any less depressing. Sunday was supposed to be the day English football shone again on the global stage. Instead, it was an embarrassment, the reputation of England supporters tarnished by the actions of the idiot minority – albeit a pretty sizeable one – and prompting a whole host of pressing questions with regard to organisation, policing, ticketing and the very suitability of Wembley as a sporting venue. The fact England lost the match, when everything else is factored in, hardly seems to matter.

Defeat was followed by Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka receiving a torrent of racial abuse on social media.

If there was a positive to find amid the gloom, it once more came from the England players, the defiant yet dignified responses of Rashford, Sancho and Saka and the measured yet fearless fury of Tyrone Mings.

An excellent footballer, Mings is an even better human and has the gift of being able to nail his argument in a few short sentences.

Little wonder the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, opted not to respond after the Villa defender pointed out her hypocrisy at condemning the abuse, having only weeks before dismissed the England team taking the knee as ‘gesture politics’ and saying it was up to fans whether or not they chose to boo the anti-racism gesture. In just 35 words, Mings left the politician with nowhere to go.

Surreal as a public argument between a footballer and one of the country’s most senior politicians might seem, it is probably the best example yet of how an increasing number of players feel empowered to speak out.

That in itself provides cause for at least a little optimism, on what was otherwise a bad week for England.