Sir Patrick Stewart, Maureen Lipman and John Cleese express their support as they lead the stars cheering on England in the European Championship final

Celebrities from across England have expressed their support for the Three Lions ahead of the eagerly awaited European Championship final in Berlin on Sunday evening.

Famous faces such as Maureen Lipman, Patrick Stewart and John Cleese expressed their support for Gareth Southgate’s England team this weekend.

Sir Patrick Stewart, 84, who lives in Los Angeles, admitted that he was very sad to be so far away from Europe and unable to attend the game in person.

He told the Daily Mail: “I very much wish I wasn’t 9,000 miles away. I feel like this could be the match of the competition.”

Meanwhile, 78-year-old Dame Maureen Lipman shared her theory that Southgate has an ace up his sleeve ahead of the grand final.

The Coronation Street actress said: “I’ve watched almost every game and wherever I am I tear myself away and pull my hair out or just start crying.”

“I am now convinced that England’s relentless defensive play until the semi-final was part of Southgate’s masterful plan to deceive the European continent into thinking we had no punches and then ‘wham bam, thank you’ happened.

“Gareth, bring her in, take her off, change her and slam her in… I’ll be glued, accusatory and hysterical.”

His acting colleague John Cleese said: “All these games are decided by moments of luck. I hope we get really lucky today. These guys deserve it.”

While the country is rooting for the English boys to finally make it home, Jeremy Irons still wished them a “great game”.

He said: “Gareth, you do what you do very well. You lead from the front. You are a great role model for all of us and that is why we are all behind you. Whether you win or lose, have a great game.”

Call the Midwife star Jenny Agutter added: “I hope you enjoy the game. If you do, we will too. I’ll be cheering you on. I basically want to see them feel free to take risks and play well together.”

The outpouring of support came as Gareth delivered an emotional message to his England heroes ahead of their rendezvous with destiny: “Go and fulfil your dreams.”

After a turbulent tournament, the national team will face Spain in the final of the 2024 European Championship on Sunday evening. Southgate said: “I don’t believe in fairy tales, but I believe in dreams. We have big dreams, but you have to make them come true.”

“Our run, the late goals, the penalties, but that doesn’t mean we’ll make it. We have to perform.”

“If you want to create dreams, you need a vision. That lights a little fire. We know what it would mean (to win).”

The England men’s team have not won a major trophy since the 1966 World Cup and Southgate added: “We have to win this title to win the respect of the rest of the football world.”

“I went to World Cups and European Championships as an observer (before I became England manager) and we weren’t in the summaries on the big screens before the games. They only showed the finals and the big games.”

“We had high expectations, but they did not match our performance. Now we have achieved it.”

“Tomorrow I’m not afraid of what might happen because I’ve been through everything. I want my players to feel that fearlessness… If we’re not afraid of losing, we have a better chance of winning.”

The three will be playing in their second consecutive European Championship final after their defeat against Italy at Wembley in 2021.

The team lost on home soil in a penalty shootout and this evening will be remembered for a long time by those involved.

“I think it shows first and foremost incredible consistency,” said captain Harry Kane on Saturday night. “Many of us were obviously heartbroken about the result after that final because, as always, it’s been a long road back to get to where we are now.”

“The boys deserve all the credit for the resilience we showed. That speaks volumes about the mentality of the team. We are over the moon to be in this situation and to be in a European final again. Of course, we are keen to go one step further than last time.”

England go into the match as underdogs, as Spain have won all six of their matches so far and the Three Lions have drawn four times in 90 minutes.

However, Southgate was not bothered by this and is happy that his planning has paid off so far.

He added: “We didn’t have much time on the training pitch, but we met several times to assess the opponent and find the best way to play against them.”

“But our messages haven’t really changed in the six or seven weeks we’ve been together. We had a long-term vision and always broke it down into smaller parts.”