North East football fans have paid thousands of pounds and travelled by air, road and rail to be in with a chance to watch “history” at the Euro 2024 final.

On Saturday afternoon, some of the supporters who had made the journey to Berlin were enjoying a drink in Breitscheidplatz, which has been allocated as a meeting point.

England fans Tommy Swift, 44, and nephew Michael Swift, 22, from Hartlepool, said they travelled to Berlin on plane, train, tram, foot and scooter.

Tommy Swift said they booked the travel three weeks ago because they had faith in the England team but had not got match tickets yet.

He said he had a budget of up to £2,000 for the tickets, saying: “We know what we have to pay.”

He added: “It might never happen again. I hope that it does finally come home, we’ve waited a long time.”

While it's a major journey for the fans to make - it's nothing compared to Tony Rudd, 37, who has made a journey of 26 hours to get to Berlin from his home in Darwin, Australia.

He said: “I made a last-minute decision. I went ‘I’m going’.”

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He said he booked the trip, which cost about £4,500, a couple of hours before boarding and had not yet managed to get tickets for the match.

Mr Rudd, originally from Wigan, Greater Manchester, said his family, including his children, thought he was “mad” to have made the journey.

He added: “I’m just happy to be here. Buzzing.”