'Had no idea' - England star Georgia Stanway addresses FA airport decision after fans are denied chance to welcome back Women's World Cup heroes

• Lionesses returned from Down Under
• Did not greet fans at Heathrow
• Lost to Spain in final of tournament

WHAT HAPPENED? England reached the final of the World Cup, where they were beaten 1-0 by Spain, but they were unable to greet fans at Heathrow after returning home, despite there being a number of supporters waiting to get a glimpse of their heroes. The Sun reports that, instead of going through the Terminal 3 departure lounge, they were escorted out of a side exit at the airport by FA security staff.

WHAT THEY SAID: Appearing on This Morning, Stanway was asked about the decision and replied: "It all happens around us. I had no idea until afterwards when we got back on the coach and there was a few tweets out saying they were disappointed. That's hard for us because we want to give back to the fans as much as possible. But I guess the FA have got a job to look after us and after that flight they probably just wanted to get us out of the back door and get our heads down as quick as possible. But yeah, we want the opportunity to be able to connect with fans so we'll do that on social media. We've got another camp in three-four weeks' time."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: England's run to the final captured the imagination of the country, and they will hope to go one better in 2027, having already shown their trophy-winning capabilities by lifting the European Championships in 2022.

IN THREE PHOTOS:

Getty Images

Getty Images

WHAT NEXT? England play again in September, when they kick off their Nations League campaign against Scotland.