A football fan, whose flight to Germany was cancelled, embarked on a huge journey to reach the Euros.

Alex Fox, from Yate, near Bristol, is one of many fans who took the scenic, and expensive, route to see England play in the semi-final.

The personal trainer ended up boarding a £850 flight to Amsterdam, and then hired a car to drive 242km (150 miles) to Dortmund.

In the end, he arrived in the stadium with minutes to spare and said it was "worth every penny, every hour spent".

This was obviously filmed before today's men's Wimbledon final, which you can watch on BBC One now.

Gary Rose
BBC Sport in Berlin

With plenty of hours to go before kick-off, fans are keeping themselves entertained by drinking, singing or in the case of this Spain fan, doing some sort of workout challenge for euros outside the stadium.

This challenge involved moving that blue ball from left to right, beating the guy in the vest's record of 79 of these.

Succeed and you get five euros. "You couldn't pay me to do it!" a Yorkshire-sounding voice boomed to my left as an England fan walked past when I took this photo.

It sounded wise to give this challenge a miss, to be fair. This Spain fan managed 42.

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Tom: It's redemption for the 'also rans', forever the bridesmaid never the bride. Penalties in '90, Gazza's outstretched leg in '96, Rooney's injury in '04. Finally something this generation can hold up to '66 and say "this was our moment in the sun". The country comes together when England play. Time stops. Roads are quiet. Think what it would mean to have that explosion of joy by actually winning it lift every home. The European champions bringing football home it would mean so much.

Emma Smith
BBC Sport

Youth teams provide far more than just a proving ground for the next Kane, Foden or Mainoo, says Ridgeway Rovers chairman Ian Marshall.

"I've had some brilliant experiences with my kids here," says Marshall, who has had three children go through Ridgeway Rovers as players. "I've spent more time with them than I would if I wasn't playing the football.

"I do it because I like doing it - and for keeping kids off the streets. We know what is going on for 17, 18 year olds. But their gang, if you like, is us.

“I knew a kid in a team I was running was being used to hold things on certain estates. In the end, we got him playing football, got him out of that environment, now he is at university.

"It's an extra help for the children in their lives - it's not just a game."

You can read our full piece on the youth teams of the current England stars here.

Dan: My first memories of England were Italia 90, at the age of 10, which like everything that followed throughout the last 34 years were full of the ups and downs.

England winning the Euro's on Sunday will have made the last 34 years of combined ecstasy, frustration, heartbreak and pain all worth it. These lads CAN DO IT!

COME ON ENGLAND!

Emma Smith
BBC Sport

Future England captain Harry Kane was taking his first steps in the world of football with Chingford-based Ridgeway Rovers, where he played before joining Arsenal’s academy in 2004.

Kane’s early years are littered with sliding doors moments – not only did he initially join Arsenal before later moving to north London rivals Spurs’ academy, but instead of being England’s number nine he could have been their number one.

"When Harry first turned up in the early 2000s, aged seven or eight, he volunteered to go in goal," Ridgeway Rovers chairman Ian Marshall told BBC Sport. "The coach was just pleased to find a volunteer. Most of the kids at that age want to play outfield.

"He was brilliant in goal, we had to be persuaded to put him outfield - but he turned out to be brilliant there too."

Marshall joined Rovers after Kane had left, but stories of the boy who would be king have persisted into Ridgeway legend.

"I did some work with his school teachers, they told me he played a cup game where he scored a hat-trick in the semi-final," Marshall says.

"They dropped him off, then saw him out in a different tracksuit going for a run, he was working on his fitness. He has always been that sort of character."

Image source, Ridgeway Rovers

Alan Prideaux: To win would be not only vindication for the loss in the final last time, but would drive a total change in our country about the way the England football team is viewed. I've waited all my life to see England lift a major trophy. Now is our time, bring it home boys you deserve it. We are all behind you

Emma Smith
BBC Sport

As England’s players prepare for the final of Euro 2024, the impact of their achievements in Germany are being readily felt back home at the clubs where their journeys began.

The youth teams where Harry Kane, Phil Foden and Kobbie Mainoo have been watching on with a mixture of pride, and slight frazzlement as they deal with an influx of interest from what Richard Hubbard of Cheadle & Gatley JFC calls ‘Mainoo Mania’.

Mainoo played for Cheadle and Gatley in the 2011-12 season when he was just six years old, before joining the Manchester United academy. Hubbard, who is club treasurer and has been involved with the team for 30 years, remembers the now-England midfielder well.

"Kobbie was a naturally gifted young player, a miniature version of the player you see today,” he told BBC Sport.

“We'd only let him play with his left foot because he was so good. We wanted to put extra challenges on him.

"We call it Mainoo Mania. Every time he does something it makes you incredibly proud. We've got 750 kids and every time we speak to a kid or parent it is about England, the Euros and Kobbie."

Image source, Cheadle Catholic Primary

Mark Norman: Being a supporter of a football club that doesn't achieve much glory, it is hard to put into words how much an England victory would mean. I was living abroad during the 2018 World Cup and the scenes of home was a pull & I returned to live here soon after. It is more or less a religious experience and people of a similar background will know that we've been brought up memories of England playing during heady summers. Despite the weather letting us down this year, this England team can do something we will never ever forget.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport

Manchester United's head of academy Nick Cox knows nothing can prepare fully for what England midfielder Kobbie Mainoo will face in Berlin tonight,

But United have tried to create a pathway for their young players that should mean it is not too much of a shock.

"We try to expose them to environments that look and feel a little bit like what they will experience in the future," said Cox.

"When I look at Kobbie’s journey I can look at him playing in front of 65,000 at the FA Youth Cup final. For a 17-year-old kid, that will have looked and felt like what he is going to experience on Sunday.

"That would have been his first taste of pressure and the spotlight.

"We took him to big international tournaments or played in younger age groups and made him captain, with the pressure of having to be the best player and lead the team. We have exposed him to U21 football and first team training at a really young age.

"From a character point of view, the one that sticks in my mind is scoring at Molineux, his first Premier League goal. It was only 14 months after he had scored a winning penalty for our Under-21s in the EFL Trophy at Molineux."

Image source, Getty Images