England's Euro 2020 campaign got off to a winning start today as Raheem Sterling's goal secured victory over Croatia at Wembley.

And here in Oxford the crowds went mad.

An absolutely scorching day and with the worst of lockdown behind us, plenty of people were out and about.

However, when it came to watching the match in the pub things obviously operated rather differently from normal years.

I bumped into friends Charlie Carter, Chris McCluskey and Harvee Thomas who were on their way to the Wig and Pen in George Street at 2pm.

Asked who was going to win, Mr Carter said: “We’re hoping England will be coming through with it - they've got some good Tottenham players and Grealish is at number 8 so that’s good."

As for the hospitality restrictions, he said: “You can’t complain but i'ts really hot and we're now we’re really looking for a pub with a garden.”

And Archie,dressed in an England shirt, and his mate Harvey from Milton Keynes were also racing to the Wig and Pen.

“Who’ll win? England hopefully."

Archie added: "The pubs round here are handling it all a lot better than in London."

On the same street, O’Neills looked full with a steady stream of fans turning up outside.

Oxford Mail:

Meanwhile at the City Arms on Cowley Road, the bar was decorated and the game was on on a large screen indoors as well as out in the garden.

Entry was restricted to those who had pre-booked and fans were seated at tables and wearing masks to move around while drinks were brought by staff.

There were hopeful chants of “3 nil” when the Three Lions almost took an early lead when Phil Foden struck a post but that was replaced by the first signs of frustration when the chant went down to a more modest "2 nil".

Sterling then slid in the winner after 57 minutes following a perfect pass from man-of-the-match Kalvin Phillips and cheers erupted into the street outside.

Throughout the match tipsy fans kept a sing-song chorus of “England til I die” and a couple of faces painted with the England flag seemed to be turning a little redder.

Friends and fans Henry Cole, Charlie Warner and Ed Coles, all 19, had some choice remarks to make about the Croatia side.

Oxford Mail:

After the England win, the group shouted at me: “Where are we going? Right to the top” before breaking out into a raucous rendition of Football’s Coming Home.

As far as the football’s concerned, our boys played a good game.

But as for enjoying the atmosphere, I'm afraid things can only get better.