• Some 10,000 fans were at Heathrow Airport to welcome the England team home at 4.30am.
• Some had arrived at 7pm the night before.
• Cars were parked on verges half a mile around the airport.
• The British Airports Authority has never handled crowds of that magnitude. To quote one staff member it was “bigger than Madonna”.
• The BA 747 jumbo, renamed Sweet Chariot, was the first flight into Terminal 4 that day.
• Among the flags and posters held up was a giant ‘England - World Champions’ banner, stolen from the fence of Twickenham Stadium (pictured).