Shropshire football fans celebrate England's opening Euro 2020 victory

There were huge celebrations at pubs in Shropshire as England beat Croatia 1-0 in the Three Lions' first match of Euro 2020.

England fans at the Salopian Bar, Shrewsbury, were delighted to see the Three Lions win their Euro 2020 opener

It was a full house at Shrewsbury's Salopian Bar where fans started to queue 30 minutes before the riverside watering hole was due to open its doors for the day with some left disappointed as the premises immediately reached its social distancing capacity.

Around 111 jubilant customers many wearing England shirts were at the venue watching the match on TV screens dotted in every corner of the Smithfield Road-premises.

Engineer Mark Thorpe, 60, from Bayston Hill, was sitting at a table with St George's flag draped next to him. He said: "It's been a brilliant atmosphere. I came three hours before the start with a few friends. It's been great.

"I'm also a Liverpool fan as I'm from there originally. The atmosphere there is really good."

Fans, such as Andrew Charlesworth, Sam Spence and Alex Malam had to wait an extra 12 months for the tournament to start

Andrew Charlesworth, 25, from Ditherington, was at the game with friend Sam Spence.

"I think England played the wrong team. I'm a Aston Villa fan and they should have started with Grealish," he said.

"The atmosphere was electric and everyone was ecstatic and a lot of people were wearing their England shirts.

"I'm Scottish really and they're playing on Monday and I'll be supporting them too."

Sam Spence, a 22-year-old engineer from St Michael's Street in Shrewsbury, said: "I'm really happy with the score. It's been a really good atmosphere. There were a lot of excited people around. The celebrations have been at social distance. We've really had a good day."

England fans at the Salopian Bar, Shrewsbury, to watch England v Croatia

Dan Wagstaff, 27, came with friends Matt Leah, Jed Morgan, Dan Lloyd, Callum Trow and Joe Romasiuk from Shrewsbury, to see the team play. He told the Shropshire Star: "It's nice to see people out and about and enjoying watching the England game. It's a good atmosphere here. We're having a good time.

"The first game in a major tournament is always hard, but Southgate will get us through. "

Mr Romasiuk said: "We thought it would be an England win 100 per cent except that we thought it would 2-1, but we'll take the 1-0. We're absolutely ecstatic with the result. It was a superb game."

Mr Trow, a media assistant added: "I'm confident that the cup's coming home."

Raheem Sterling's goal was enough for England

Salopian Bar manager Ollie Parry was delighted to be able to reopen the premises in time for the tournament after a difficult 15 months in which trade was scuppered by flooding and the pandemic immediately afterwards.

"It has been a great day so far. People were arriving at 10.30am although we weren't due to open until 11am and by 11.30am we were full. We had to to turn away a few hundred," he said.

"We have been closed for 15 months and this is the first major sporting event since we have reopened and it is good to see the customers come back to support us. It's also good to meet new customers as well."