England Euros hero Ella Toone spots emotional 'sign' after dad's death

England Euros hero Ella Toone spots emotional 'sign' after dad's death

The footballer, who hails from Tyldesley, was among the England squad that was seen defeating Spain in the final

Niamh Charles and Ella Toone of England react after winning the UEFA Women's EURO 2025 Final (Image: The FA via Getty Images)

Ella Toone shared an emotional 'sign' that her dad wasn't too far away as she was seen becoming a back-to-back UEFEA Women's Euros champion.

The footballer, who hails from Tyldesley in Wigan, was among the England squad that was seen defeating Spain in the final of the closely-fought tornement on Sunday night (July 26).

The Lionesses defended their European title after beating Spain 3-1 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in Basel, Switzerland, on Sunday, after a dramatic tournement that saw the Lionesses fight until the very end.

After needing to recover from an opening loss to France just to make it out of the group stage, and then play 120 minutes against both Sweden and Italy to reach the final, England again came from behind on the night and went the distance as Alessia Russo cancelled out Mariona Caldentey’s opener.

After seeing goalkeeper Hannah Hampton make two key saves before Chloe Kelly’s winning spot-kick, manager Sarina Wiegman called it "the most chaotic and ridiculous tournament we have played".

While the celebrations continued long into the night, there was a bittersweet moment for Ella, who was seen breaking down in tears shortly after the final whistle.

Last September, Ella confirmed the heartbreaking news that her dad, and her biggest supporter, Nick had died just days before his 60th birthday.

Ella felt her dad was watching as she became European Champion again with the Lionesses (Image: Ella Toone Instagram)

She shared the tragic news on her Instagram page as she paid tribute to the "best dad in the world" and her "best friend" on what would have been his 60th birthday, three days after she said her family had tp say their goodbyes.

Following the final of the Euros 2025 on Sunday, Ella shared a post on Instagram which showed an empy seat in the stands at St. Jakob-Park next her family.

Alongside the image, she wrote on her Instagram Story: "Spare seat next to my mum tonight. If that's not a sign, I don't know what is." She added: "I know you were there dad, Love you [red heart emojis]."

Manchester United star Ella also shared a photo of herself and teammate Beth Mead with their medals and said: "We did it for our angels in the sky. Forever with us and forever proud," after the Arsenal player lost her mum in January 2023, following a ovarian cancer diagnosis.

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Beth Mead tragically lost her mum in January 2023 (Image: Ella Toone Instagram)

Ella's dad Nick was diagnosed with prostate cancer the day after the Lionesses beat Germany to win Euro 2022. "He went to all the away games, he went to the World Cup. He used to be right by her side all the time when it came to a football," one of Ella's aunties, Tracy Haslam, told the BBC.

"It's just a bit harder now her dad's not here. There's a lot of firsts when you lose someone close. It's quite hard for when she plays a game, you can see it sometimes, that she misses him."

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