How the England Euro 2024 squad announcement video was made (2024)

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As Gareth Southgate’s decisive press conference at Tottenham Hotspur’s training ground approached just over a week ago, England fans waited in anticipation to discover who he was taking to the European Championship in Germany — and who was being left behind.

But they weren’t the only ones keen to discover which of the seven members of his training squad of 33 were going to miss out.

The makers of the FA video unveiling the chosen ones were also set to spring into action to quickly edit their near three-minute-long collection of 28 scenes, each with members of the public, as well as a clutch of celebrities, unveiling each of the 26 players Southgate had chosen.

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It was the final flurry in what had been an intense filming process, with each scene shot across 25 locations — including Newcastle United’s St James’ Park, a cafe in Dudley, a farm near Tamworth in Staffordshire, a food truck in London and Wembley Stadium — in just five days.

Shooting took 60 hours and 6,100 feet of film across those five days and involved a cast of exactly 100, made up of real fans.

Produced by The FA and Kode Media, and directed by Otis Dominique, who has directed music videos for Raye and Jorja Smith, the video features ‘Candle Flame’ by Brit Award-winning band Jungle, along with cameos from darts star Luke Littler, Lionesses legend Jill Scott, England blind men’s player Azeem Amir, sports presenter Jules Breach and commentator Peter Drury.

Scenes for all 33 of Southgate’s training squad were prepared and within 90 minutes of the official announcement, when the editors finally knew exactly who was in the squad and which scenes would have to end up on the cutting room floor, the video was published on FA channels.

Each scene involves a different location and reveal, including in a Manchester barber shop where 11-year-old Stanley Heaton looks at a selection of infamous England haircuts from the past including Kevin Keegan’s perm and Chris Waddle’s mullet, but wisely asks for a Phil Foden haircut instead.

“Otis had used Stanley before for another Foden-themed advert,” his mother Steph tells The Athletic. “He still has the Foden haircut.”

The scene where Littler throws a dart and Kobbie Mainoo’s name is chalked on a nearby blackboard raised some speculation on social media that a hasty edit to replace the name of James Maddison, who is renowned for his love of darts and throws an imaginary dart as his goalscoring celebration, had taken place.

However, Littler is a big Manchester United fan and was always going to reveal United midfielder Mainoo, if he made it.

Scenes to reveal those who missed out were also filmed, with Harry Maguire’s name on the back of the shirt of a man playing five-a-side and Jack Grealish’s reveal was set to be a tattoo on a fan’s lower leg.

For Amir, it wasn’t the first time he had received a call from the FA, and like Cole Palmer — the player he introduces while asking a London taxi driver to turn up the heating — he has worn the Three Lions shirt competitively.

“I was lucky that I got one of the better ones because I thought Palmer was dead-set to be in the squad, unless he was injured,” says Manchester-born Amir.

“When I told my friends I had Palmer, they were asking, ‘So he’s definitely in the squad then?’ but I didn’t really know. It was a hunch. They think I am like water — I get in everywhere.”

For West Ham fans John and Chris Lee, there was no such guarantee that their player reveal, the forward Jarrod Bowen, would make it, but they were delighted when he was named ahead of Maddison and Grealish. They filmed a scene at Wandsworth Bridge.

“We had a relative in the production who asked us for that role,” says John, who is a season ticket holder. “I wouldn’t call it acting. We only had one line.

“There was an element of doubt that he would make it but I am pleased he (Bowen) did — not just because of our scene but because I think he has deserved it for his performances for West Ham.”

For housemates Josh Cole, Gabriel and Akasha, who unveiled Ivan Toney’s inclusion during a game of table football, there was always a fraction of doubt. In fact, they filmed scenes for two names to be revealed.

“Gabs is from Liverpool, so I think the director originally had the idea of having Curtis Jones, the Liverpool midfielder, passing for Toney,” says Josh.

“We did some scenes that didn’t make it with that idea. Also, when he says ‘Toney is not missing from there, you know’, Gabs struggled with that phrase in his Scouse accent as saying ‘you know’ at the end of sentences is a very southern thing to say.

“It would have been a shame if Toney hadn’t made it too, but I was just so pleased to be working on the scene, regardless of what was said.”

Contingency planning was always key, as Tamworth farmers Richard and Sarah Thirlby, and their son Dominic, who answered an appeal by the Leicestershire Young Farmers group for a livestock farmer to help the FA, found out.

Richard had to drive a tractor while wearing a John Stones shirt, with a Conor Gallagher shirt also on location as backup.

“I watched the FA Cup final and I was praying Stones didn’t go off injured, and he did at half-time,” Dominic says. “They had the Gallagher shirt with them but my dad wore the Stones one. Thankfully, Stones was fit enough.

“The other doubt was when I told Mum. She said, ‘How on earth do you think you are going to get your dad to do that?’. Deep down, I think he loved it.”

Sarah was also involved, posing with a mug emblazoned with ‘Wharton’, representing surprise call-up Adam Wharton, written on it — or so it seemed.

“Mum posed with a cup of coffee outside one of our glamping cabins,” Dominic adds. “She filmed one scene with a blank mug and a second with Gallagher on it. When Wharton got in, I think they used the blank mug.”

It wasn’t just the names of the individual players that caused logistical issues.

On a visit to Ridgeway Rovers to confirm captain Harry Kane, who played for the Chingford-based club as a youngster, the young players being filmed were battered by torrential rain. Then, when the scene confirming Bukayo Saka’s inclusion was shot, the fans involved were battered by a storm and had to be captured beneath a bridge.

The decision to shoot using physical film rather than digital, to give the production a more authentic feel, meant that after capturing the Kieran Trippier and Anthony Gordon scenes, and the scene involving Scott and Breach before the friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 3, the film had to be driven straight back to London to be developed in time for editing.

It was also physically demanding, especially on a Wembley steward called Jim, who stood at one end of the ground and repeatedly shouted ‘Gomez!’ to confirm Liverpool defender Joe Gomez’s inclusion. Jim did repeated takes for 20 minutes.

It was a huge undertaking by the production team and the FA to produce England’s announcement film, which was designed to celebrate the players and English fandom, and also capture the diversity of the England fanbase, and premiere it so quickly after Southgate’s 26-man squad was confirmed.

Within a few days, it received 4.7million views on Instagram and 4million impressions on X, and 250,000 views on YouTube — strong numbers considering England’s players weren’t actually featured at all.

“Someone involved said something that stuck with me: that it is was something we could show children and grandchildren,” says Amir. “It does feel like we have played a little part in history.”

(Top photos: The FA)

Rob has been a journalist for twenty years and for the past ten he has covered Leicester City, including their Premier League title success of 2016.He is the author of 5000-1, The Leicester City Story. Follow Rob on Twitter @RobTannerLCFC