Danny Dyer has insisted there is ‘a lot of love’ between the England players and their respective families after his comments about life behind the scenes of the Three Lions camp went viral.
Dyer recently returned to the UK after attending Sunday’s Euro 2024 final in Berlin where he was supporting son-in-law Jarrod Bowen.
Bowen was an unused substitute in the 2-1 defeat against Spain, but unlike a host of other stars, the West Ham forward was actually handed minutes during the tournament.
Dyer joined talkSPORT earlier this week to lift the lid on life inside the England camp at a major tournament, and what it was like being the family member of one of the stars on the field.
While sharing his experiences following the team around Germany, he suggested there was ‘friction’ with some families over some squad members’ lack of game time at the Euros.
“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,” he said.
“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 [next manager] fancies Jarrod again and he gets to go again at the World Cup.”
The legendary actor returned to the talkSPORT studio on Thursday as a special guest co-host of Drivetime, and he clarified what he meant, insisting there was no bad blood between the families at all.
“I just mentioned about the families and friction, but that wasn’t between each other,” he told Drivetime presenter Andy Goldstein.
“I went to the final and I had the honour of being with the families and it’s a very, very emotional thing watching England anyway, whether you’re in the stadium or you’re sitting at the pub and you don’t know anyone around you.
“But when you’ve got a connection to the squad, like I have with J [Bowen] and you’re sitting with Trent Alexander-Arnold’s mum and Kyle Walker’s mum and dad, it’s a thing. And it’s just parents watching their kids, they’re all very working-class people, I love them all, they’re right up my street.
“And there’s been this clickbaity thing where I’m saying, ‘There’s friction between them’, like I’m some little grass! But that’s not the case!
“The friction is that all of those parents and brothers and sisters and children want to see their boy playing football and they don’t all get that opportunity, unfortunately. We know Gareth stuck to the same side but they’re all living in hope and they’ve got the shirts on with the names on the back and they just want to see their boy get a go at it.
“So that’s what I meant about the tension of sitting there just praying Gareth looks at that bench.
“I was looking at [Dean] Henderson, and you know he’s never gonna get shot as a keeper unless something happens to Jordan Pickford, but all of his family are there and they’d love him to get a shot. So I suppose they’re sort of praying that Pickford does get injured just so he gets on.
“That’s a weird thing, and that’s what I meant with the tension side of it – it’s not like at each other’s throats. There’s a lot of love there. Obviously it’s very emotional and I was really honoured to be part of it.”
The former EastEnders star also provided a fascinating insight into Bowen and daughter Dani’s blossoming relationship, the mood of the players after the final and his take on the Fodens!
I love Jarrod
“It’s a weird one when you’ve got daughters because they do bring home fellas that are no good,” Dyer said on the Breakfast Show.
“The thing about Jarrod is that he’s such a lovely geezer. 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 [Europa Conference League final in 2013], 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!
“It’s a beautiful thing, I’m so happy for the pair of them, they’re so bang in love.
“She hasn’t seen him,” Dyer added. “He’s been away for six weeks. It’s been a very intense camp. She’s been going back and forth, every time she goes we’ve got the chavs unfortunately for us!”
Fascinating Fodens
“I was very honoured to be hanging out with all the players’ parents brothers and sisters,” said Dyer.
“The Fodens are fascinating. There’s 16 of the Fodens running around, all diddy people, lovely people.
“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.”
Final heartache
“After the game you wait for the players to come and see you. Usually if we lose a game, I’m out the door.
“We had to sit and watch the Spanish celebrate for an hour-and-a-half, so that hurt.
“Then the players came and they were all a bit down and I think everyone was in shock.
“I think we all really did believe this time. I’m so grateful that the boys scored that goal and we had the change to jump around.
“Every boozer, we had the opportunity to jump around cuddle each other an go crackers because it was underwhelming the whole game and then of course they done us in the last minute.
“They only just nicked it off us but what a side Spain are.”