In Pictures: Thousands welcome England to ‘home from home’

England’s FIFA Women’s World Cup squad were given another warm Australian reception by approximately 2,500 fans on Tuesday as they trained for the first time at Central Coast Stadium.

The Lionesses will train at the prestigious sporting venue in Gosford, New South Wales – 12km west of the team’s base camp hotel in the coastal town of Terrigal – for the remainder of their World Cup adventure. 

The squad had arrived at the picturesque coastal resort on Sunday after beginning the tournament with a 1-0 victory against Haiti in Brisbane on Saturday.

Central Coast Stadium is home to A-League club Central Coast Mariners and they both, along with FIFA and the FA, arranged for approximately 2,500 fans to attend the community session. Afterwards, the players and support team were officially greeted with a Welcome to Country and smoke ceremony by the Darkinjung community, with Rik Hart, the Central Coast administrator, also offering words of welcome.

Led by head coach Sarina Wiegman and captain Millie Bright, the England squad then took time to mingle with those who had to come to watch.

Wiegman said: “We are delighted to be on the Central Coast and we want to thank everyone who has made us feel so welcome. 

“It is such a beautiful part of Australia and it really feels like a ‘home from home’, both in our base camp hotel but also at the Central Coast Stadium. 

“A huge amount of work has gone in behind the scenes and we are very grateful. 

“To have around 2,500 fans and so many of them children watch training is so amazing and we never take the support for granted.” 

The relaxed activity was the final open session before England step up preparations for their second Group D fixture against Denmark in Sydney on Friday, with the match kicking off at 9.30am BST and being shown live on BBC 1 and iPlayer. 

The squad’s group matches will then conclude on Tuesday against China PR in Adelaide, with ITV showing the 12pm BST kick off.