A FORMER MARLING student went to Sunday's World Cup Final between England and Spain in Sydney.
The Lionesses lost 1-0 in the showpiece event thanks to Olga Carmona's first-half strike.
Ashley Davies, who is the CFO of an Australian startup called Slyp, moved down under in 2002.
He grew up in and around Stroud, living in King's Stanley.
The former Marling School pupil played football for Whiteshill u12 and Randwick u14, Stroud u17 plus cricket for King's Stanley.
Finding tickets on the day just three hours before kick-off, he attended the match with his 16-year-old daughter Francesca and 12-year-old son Dominic.
Mr Davies said: "The atmosphere at the game was amazing.
"It was probably about 60:40 in terms of who supported England/Spain but quite a few Aussies supporting Spain too.
"We only scored tickets about three hours before kickoff.
"The FIFA resale platform was hopeless so I looked elsewhere and found tickets on Facebook marketplace.
"It meant a quick turnaround but we only live around 20 mins from the stadium, so we hopped on a free bus ( all public transport to sporting events in Sydney is free) and to the game an hour before kickoff.
"The atmosphere in Australia for this has been building for some time.
"It has definitely been bolstered by Australia having a standout tournament.
"My son is a massive football fan and player.
"He actually had his own U13 cup final for his local school the same weekend and also lost 0-1.
"This was my daughters' first England game and World Cup game.
"She also represents her school at football.
"Everyone in Australia of course has their favourite in Sam Kerr but the players have definitely inspired a nation and now want to bid for the 2034 men’s tournament
"I’d been following England throughout and was as usual) the sole Lionesses fan in my house in the semi and all day at work.
"I’d told the kids if either England or Australia made the final we would try and get tickets.
"The only downside of the night was the result, which unfortunately ended in a defeat for the Lionesses.
"While Spain were the better team on the night , I felt England were a bit cagey and gave up too much possession and left Spain press too high up the pitch.
"We only really got going after the penalty save, but couldn’t quite convert the chance the matters.
"Unfortunately at least three more years to wait before football comes home."
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