England v Scotland: The fans who lost their Euro 2020 tickets - BBC News
Some fans are having to make new plans after their tickets were cancelled.
Blayne Pereira (right) and his friend Adam Smith at the England v Croatia game.

It's not the big day Blayne Pereira had planned. He'd been hoping to be at Wembley with his mates watching England play Scotland for the first time in a major tournament since 1996.

And until three weeks ago, there was still a chance he'd actually have a ticket for the big game. But like thousands of others, his ticket has now been refunded and he's had to make alternative plans. For Blayne, that means a day of wedding planning and visiting potential venues with his fiancée.

"We've got three venues booked in," he says. "It's a big difference from a day out with the lads."

Tickets for the match went on sale in the summer of 2019 - before it was known who would be playing. Blayne, 31, from north London, managed to buy a ticket for the second game at Wembley, only to see the tournament postponed because of Covid-19.

The draw for the tournament was then held in November 2019, when England were put into a group with Croatia, Czech Republic and a play-off winner.

The play-offs were postponed from March 2020 to November, which was when Scotland secured their place in the group.

Earlier this year, it was announced the game would go ahead at Wembley a year late, but with a reduced capacity of just 25%, giving Blayne hope he would be one of the lucky ones to attend.

But three weeks ago, organisers Uefa emailed to say his ticket had been cancelled and refunded. Only 22,500 lucky fans will be able to attend, and his name hadn't been drawn out in the ballot.

"I was actually able to go to the England v Croatia game on Sunday," the England supporter says. "That was pure luck. A friend's dad had to isolate ahead of an operation. I'd probably feel worse if I hadn't got (that chance) to go and experience the atmosphere."

Blayne got engaged last month and is looking to get married in December 2022 - during what will be the Qatar World Cup. He had planned to watch Friday's game at a friend's barbecue but with bad weather expected, now he is not so sure.

"Whatever happens it will be something much more low key."

All the venues hosting the tournament are allowing fans to attend the matches.

Officials in St Petersburg and Baku recently confirmed capacities of 50%, with Budapest having a completely full stadium, but with strict entry requirements for spectators.

Amsterdam, Bucharest, Copenhagen, Glasgow, Rome and Seville have been at between 25% and 33% of the stadium capacity, while Munich has admitted about 14,500 fans, so filling approximately 22% of its total seats.

Dublin and Bilbao had scheduled matches taken away from them, because they could not guarantee admitting spectators.

Luke (right) and his son Jadan at a Tottenham Hotspur match in October 2019.

Luke McEwen, 35, from west London, had a ticket to the England v Scotland game for the "best part of two years", he says. Three weeks ago, he got an email from Uefa at 04:00 BST informing him he'd been unsuccessful in the latest ballot.

The news was "gutting" and "devastating". For Luke, it was the only match he got in an initial ballot for tickets in 2019. He says it was "perfect" - a game to "really look forward to".

"We were only successful with one game in the ballot, the second group game," explains Luke. At the time, this also meant the possibility of England playing Israel, where his partner is from.

"So even though we didn't get every ticket we wanted, we thought this was perfect."

It was a "once in a lifetime" opportunity, he says. But instead, he's looking at the positive side of the situation. He'll be at a local pub where they have "jazzed up their beer garden" and are showing matches on a big screen. The ticket refund will cover his drinks.

"I'm just disappointed. I think as fans we've missed out on football for so long that we just want to get back into stadiums. I'm a Tottenham fan and was lucky enough to go to the Carabao Cup final a few weeks ago. We didn't win, but it was good to be there."

James Leighfield, a 26-year-old Manchester United fan, had a dream ticket to follow England all the way to the tournament's final - if they made it there - with tickets for every one of their potential matches.

However, all of his tickets were cancelled and refunded. Unsuccessful in the fresh ballot, he nevertheless managed to get hold of a ticket to see Raheem Sterling's goal claim victory against Croatia on Sunday. But despite checking regularly, it doesn't look like he will be able to do the same for the Scotland game.

"The FA has been working hard to get tickets, but the process has been frustrating, especially for those who are England Supporters Travel Club members.

Unless there is a last-minute reprieve, he said he would be watching the Scotland game at home with friends.

"It's not ideal because it's too late to book anywhere with a decent atmosphere outside of your own home," he said.

"I've missed out on Scotland entirely, which is a once in a lifetime thing with the game being in England."