A football fan who paid for a tattoo with the words “England Euro 2024 Winners” before the tournament final had taken place has insisted he “still loves” the ink despite the result.
Dan Thomas, 29, from Swindon, Wiltshire, asked for a tattoo of the Henri Delaunay Cup alongside the doomed words on his left leg days before the final, but does not intend to cover it up even after England’s 2-1 loss against Spain on Sunday night.
England’s wait for a first major men’s trophy since 1966 goes on after the Spanish substitute Mikel Oyarzabal scored his side’s winning goal in the 86th minute, inflicting a second successive European Championship final defeat on Gareth Southgate’s side.
Thomas remains confident the Three Lions will triumph at the next tournament in 2028 and plans potentially to alter his tattoo in four years’ time.
“We came close, I don’t regret the tattoo,” the data consultant said. “If anything, I don’t think it’d be hard to change the 4 into an 8 in four years’ time. I won’t be covering it up. Absolutely no regrets and I still love it.”
Thomas described the outcome of the match as “bittersweet” and praised the England team for reaching the final. “Bittersweet after the game, the result wasn’t what we wanted, but a great achievement to reach yet another final,” he said.
The England supporter spent two and a half hours at the Reign Barbers and Tattoos parlour in Swindon getting the sizeable tattoo of the trophy.
He livestreamed the moment he had the artwork tattooed on his leg, which received 42,000 views on TikTok.
Tattoo artist Tinashe Chikerema applied the ink to Thomas’s skin, but not before he “triple-checked” with Thomas if he wanted it done.
“I couldn’t believe he actually wanted the tattoo, but I triple-checked with him. Fair play to him for being so confident in the team,” Chikerema said.
Thomas’s friend, Jack Wilkinson, who owns Reign Barbers and Tattoos, did not believe Thomas would go ahead with the tattoo “until the needle actually touched the skin”.
Wilkinson said: “I thought it was a joke to start with, but he said he was full of confidence and wanted to be the first one to get it done before everyone else gets it done after they win.
“It still feels surreal that he actually got it done. It sums up Dan as a person. He’s quite eccentric and Mr Positive.”
