After following every nail biting game of the Euros I am so proud to be British.

Despite losing the final on penalties on Sunday night our boys behaved superbly. They were gentlemen. They should hold their heads high and be proud of what they have achieved.

Gareth Southgate is a brilliant manager: he has empathy with his players and spurs them on whatever the score. In my eyes the England squad are winners.

Sandra McClaren, Boroughbridge Road, York

As a European I can still say ‘we won’

I have been normally a lifelong sport-free zone, so the recent sporting pandemic on TV hasn’t thrilled me. Confession; I didn’t watch all Sunday’s football match...until the penalty shoot-out, by which time I was warming up. All credit to the winner and runner-up.

Throughout my childhood Dad would drag me each Saturday to Bootham Crescent or Clarence Street to watch ‘footie’ and rugby.

He got excited while I stood by his side for two hours in a state of suspended indifference and bafflement. Early Saturday evenings I’d be despatched to the local newsagent to join the eager, straining queue for the green-coloured ‘Football Press’.

A few years later I attended a ‘rugger school’ which didn’t cater for my sporting interests; no hoopla, shove-ha’penny or crown-green marbles.

I devised a ball-avoidance strategy on the rugby pitch that involved furious, but slow, running (in the manner of certain cartoon animals), a few degrees off the direct route to the action.

When news of the England win over Denmark on Wednesday filtered through to me, I was perplexed at first; three goals - two scored by Danes, yet England won. Then it dawned about the Danish own goal.

England fielded a fine, cohesive team overseen by a thoughtful and positive manager.

As to the final: one advantage of being a European is that you can say ‘we won’, whichever team clinched it. A win-win situation?

Derek Reed, Middlethorpe Drive, York