As Euro 2020 kicks off today, the Echo looks back at the tournament from the past.

Hopes were high for England in Euro 2004 as the nation thought a team with legends such as Rooney, Beckham, Owen, Lampard and Terry had the potential to go the distance.

Rooney, who was just 18 years old at the time, shone on the pitch in the round-of-16 match against Switzerland, scoring two of the three goals that put England’s tournament on track.

The cries of “Rooney” got deeper and louder in the town’s pubs as the teen scored the first two goals, was given a yellow card and eventually subbed off soon after Steven Gerrard scored the team’s third.

Bournemouth Echo:

And at the Litten Tree, it was a full house with around 600 people watching the match.

Mum-of-13 Tracy Lewis had got up at the crack of dawn to organise a special evening when England faced Croatia in the quarter-finals.

The Lewis’s Talbot Village home was draped in England flags and dad Peter removed decking from the garden to provide a viewing platform in the lounge to accommodate three settees.

The party atmosphere took on a sombre air when Croatia opened the scoring. But there was uproar when England equalised and screams of delight when their heroes went 2-1 up.

Bournemouth Echo:

An Echo photographer visited Portuguese restaurant Funchal when England took on Portugal in the quarter-final.

They lost skipper David Beckham to injury just after half-time and Wayne Rooney was sent off after 62 minutes for a stamp on Ricardo Carvalho.

England bowed out of the tournament after losing to Portugal in sudden death penalties following a 2-2, 120-minute thriller.

What are your memories of Euro 2004? Let us know in the comments below.

Bournemouth Echo: