Last night, the country held its breath in front of thousands of screens.
Some watched at home. Other punters headed to pubs in droves, decked out in England flags. Most were hopeful.
On that night, the atmosphere at Hogarths, in Bolton town centre, was ‘electric’, said manager Steve Hoyle.
It was packed to the rafters with people young and old eager to watch the final.
Manager Steve said: “It was fantastic, I can’t explain it.
“The atmosphere when England scored was just unbelievable. It was really good to see so many happy people”.
Hogarths put a line up of entertainment from singers to DJs and a 70s tribute band, Raspberry Glam into the night - a welcome distraction when the game took its disheartening turn.
Steve said: “The result didn’t go [our] way, but the thing is [England] got to the final and that’s more than a lot of other teams did.
“At the end of the night, it was very sad, a lot of people quietened down and moved on.
“Some went after the game [but] quite a lot stayed in and enjoyed the rest of the evening.”
As for the result, Steve said: “To get as far as they did was just fantastic. That’s where things go”.
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