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England's World Cup players given personal parking spaces by supermarket chain Lidl

Matt Lewis
England’s World Cup heroes will have their own parking spaces at their local Lidl stores.
England’s World Cup heroes will have their own parking spaces at their local Lidl stores.

Lidl supermarkets are paying tribute to England’s World Cup squad by unveiling reserved car parking spaces at their local stores to mark their achievements in Russia.

The Three Lions equalled their best ever performance since winning the World Cup in 1966 as they reached the semi-finals before bowing out to Croatia after extra time.

Defender Kieran Trippier has been given the freedom of Bury after lighting up the tournament while manager Gareth Southgate has been offered free pizza for life.

Southgate was also honoured by Transport for London this week as they temporarily renamed a tube station after the talented young coach.

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And now Southgate and his boys can pull up and park right outside their local branch of Lidl thanks to the generous gesture from the supermarket chain.

Whether it is Jordan Pickford in his hometown of Washington, Southgate in Crawley or Harry Kane in Chingford, the players have all been afforded the VIP treatment.

A ‘Reserved’ car park space artwork has been place in tribute to Harry Kane at his hometown’s Lidl store car park in Waltham Abbey, Chingford.
A ‘Reserved’ car park space artwork has been place in tribute to Harry Kane at his hometown’s Lidl store car park in Waltham Abbey, Chingford.
Manager Southgate’s parking spot at his local branch.
Manager Southgate’s parking spot at his local branch.

Christian Härtnagel, the CEO of Lidl UK said: “We’re delighted to be able to show our appreciation to Gareth and the incredible England team by celebrating in their local Lidl.

“As the official supermarket of the England football team we have been supporting the players for a number of years and, along with many others, feel very proud of what they’ve achieved.”

Southgate and the England squad arrived back in the UK on Sunday afternoon after flying back into Birmingham Airport.

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Southgate said of the team’s displays this summer: “If I look back, probably a year, I had a long discussion with our board about what we wanted to do with the team, how we wanted to evolve and they were brilliant.

Jordan Pickford’s spot at his hometown store.
Jordan Pickford’s spot at his hometown store.

“They didn’t put me under pressure to try to achieve a certain performance, or a certain outcome, but they were keen that we showed signs of progress and improvement.

“They were happy to back my thoughts about putting some younger players in, and support that decision. So, if I think back to that conversation, the last seven weeks have been exactly what we hoped they would be in terms of the improvement in the team, and the experiences for the younger group of players.

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“They will be buoyed by the positive experiences, of which there have been many. But equally we know, we are under no illusions, about where we sit in the world standings.”

A parking space reserved for England’s Kieran Trippier is seen painted in the car park of an Lidl store in Bury.
A parking space reserved for England’s Kieran Trippier is seen painted in the car park of an Lidl store in Bury.

The ‘Dream Big with Lidl’ campaign has brought together both the supermarket’s backing of the England team and Lidl’s grassroots initiative ‘FA Lidl Skills’ this summer.

It has created 3 million opportunities for 5 to 11-year-olds to play football over the last three years.