‘Friction’ between the WAGs and families over who is and isn’t playing, sitting on coaches for three hours for unexciting matches… and one player who had 16 relatives running around! Danny Dyer reveals what it was really like in the England WAG camp

Danny Dyer has revealed there was ‘friction’ between England’s WAGs and families at this summer’s European Championships in Germany.

Former EastEnders star Dyer, whose daughter Dani is the partner of England and West Ham star Jarrod Bowen, followed the Three Lions on the road in Germany and has opened up on his experience.

England’s Euro 2024 campaign ended in heartbreak as Gareth Southgate’s side were beaten 2-1 by Spain in the showpiece final in Berlin last Sunday, with Mikel Oyarzabal’s 86th-minute winner consigning the Three Lions to a crushing late defeat.

Southgate stepped down from his role as England boss after almost eight years at the helm on Tuesday, prompting the FA to search for his successor.

Speaking about his experience of the tournament to talkSPORT, the 46-year-old actor said: ‘It’s mad watching it with families. It’s very intense following the team around for six weeks.

West Ham and England star Bowen (left) pictured alongside his partner Dani (right) in Cologne

John Stones’ girlfriend Olivia Naylor (left) and Bukayo Saka’s partner Tolami Benson (right) support England during their group stage match against Denmark in Frankfurt at Euro 2024

Bowen’s girlfriend Dani pictured after England’s crushing 2-1 defeat by Spain in the final

‘It’s not a glamorous lifestyle. They’re sitting on coaches for three hours and it hasn’t been the most exciting football either.

‘Some of the families are there and some of their sons are not getting enough game time so there’s a little bit of friction there. 

‘Gareth Southgate did seem to stay with the same team so some people didn’t get any minutes. 

‘At least J [Bowen] got some earlier minutes. It’s very frustrating to sit on the bench and you can’t get any minutes. 

‘There’s nothing you can do about it so you take it on the chin, you learn from it. 

‘Hopefully whoever comes in as the next manager fancies Jarrod again and he gets to go to the World Cup.’ 

Georgina Irwin (right), wife of England goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale at Sunday’s final in Berlin

Three Lions captain Harry Kane pictured alongside his wife Katie Goodland in Dortmund

Conor Gallagher and his girlfriend Aine May Kennedy are pictured together at the tournament

Luke Shaw’s partner Anouska Santos had to wait until the final to watch him start at Euro 2024

Bowen made two appearances for England at Euro 2024, coming on as a substitute against Serbia and Denmark in the group stage.

Substitute goalkeepers Aaron Ramsdale and Dean Henderson, 20-year-old midfielder Adam Wharton and back-up defenders Lewis Dunk and Joe Gomez were the only five England players not to earn a single minute on the pitch en route to receiving their runners-up medals.

Dyer heaped praise on Phil Foden’s family, insisting they are all ‘lovely people’.

‘They are fascinating. There’s 16 of the Fodens running around, all diddy people, lovely people,’ he said.

‘I tell you what else I loved – very, very working class all of them. So as much as football isn’t a working class sport any more because it costs a bomb to go, the players and their roots, they’re all working class people.’ 

Speaking on his daughter’s relationship with Bowen, the die-hard West Ham fan added: ‘The thing about Jarrod is that he’s such a lovely geezer.

Dyer also said that Phil Foden’s family were ‘lovely people’. Pictured: Foden (left) smiles after catching a fish with his brother Logan (right) while on holiday in Marbella before Euro 2024

Foden’s partner Rebecca Cooke has regularly been spotted supporting him during his career

The Man City star sits alongside his parents Phil Snr (right) and mother Claire (left) in Cologne

‘He’s humble, quite a shy kid and loves my daughter and worships the ground she walks on.

‘That means the world to me and the bonus is he got the winning goal in Prague (West Ham’s Europa Conference League final triumph in 2023), so I feel sorry for my other daughter who’s 17. She can never bring a boy home that can ever match what this boy has done.’