Sunderland pays tribute to home-grown England heroes after stunning 4-0 Euro 2020 victory over Ukraine

Jordan Pickford was barely tested in the England goal although the former St Robert of Newminster pupil has still to concede a single goal since the tournament started.

And at the other end, fellow Academy of Light graduate Jordan Henderson bagged his first ever England goal with a fine header that completed the rout.

Fans Museum founder Michael Ganley says it was one of the best England performances he had ever seen, adding: “It was amazing – I thought everybody did brilliantly.

"It has been a long time since we have seen an England side play as well as that. The left-hand side, in particular, was really strong, with Shaw and Sterling who worked incredibly well together.

“And the substitutions were perfectly timed. How amazing is that that we had a 3-0 lead and were able to bring on the Champion’s League-winning captain of Liverpool as a sub?”

Michael was delighted to see Jordan Henderson get off the mark for the national team at the 62nd time of asking.

He said: “I have been following his career from day one like a lot of Sunderland fans and he has just pushed on and pushed on,” he said.

"He reminds me a lot of Bryan Robson, a player who just always gives his all. It is not about goals – he is there to break up play, to harry people and to be creative – but it was fantastic for him to score his first.

“You could see what it meant to him."

Fans took to social media to share their joy and there were plenty of comments on the Echo’s Facebook pages praising the team as a whole and the local lads in particular.

Elaine Spence wrote: “Never had a doubt in my mind, our lads would never let us down.