After the thrills of last summer’s Euro success, the Lionesses were among the favourites for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand this year, with plenty of fans making their way to the other side of the world to roar them on to the final Down Under before that 1-0 loss to Spain.

The Hamlet had two of their own making that pilgrimage in Ceylon Hickman and Lucy Monkman, with our resident DJ combining the trip with work, as part of a standard, hectic DJ Monki summer.

Lucy, you’ve had a rather busy summer, firstly let’s talk about your time Down Under!

It was fun! It was a mixture of touring and going to see the World Cup, I only planned the tour so I could go and watch the football to be honest! But the shows in New Zealand and Australia went really well, and I got to watch all the games in Sydney from the quarter-finals onwards, including England’s games with Colombia, Australia and Spain. It was a phenomenal tournament, the Aussies and the Kiwis did a great job, plus Ceylon was there too!

What was the atmosphere like for the home nations?

New Zealand had been knocked out by the time I arrived, but in Australia there was real momentum to the support. I’d be getting into taxis or going to the hairdressers and people would be talking about the Matildas, it was very similar to how people were in England during the Euros last year, people who may not have been interested in women’s football before but who were now watching, it seemed to take over the whole country. As England fans, we were definitely outnumbered, as the Aussies would support whoever we were playing! Against Colombia, their fans were amazing, it was an electric atmosphere, and then you had all the Australians rooting for them on top of that.

What was it like in that semi-final then?

I’m not sure why, but I wasn’t expecting to be that outnumbered! I have lots of friends Down Under and thought there would be loads of England fans but it felt like there were only 5,000 in a 75,000-seat stadium, the noise was unbelievable. 

It was a fiery atmosphere, and when Sam Kerr equalised, it was one of my favourite moments of the tournament because the stadium erupted, plus the goal was amazing too, it just had to be her after coming back from injury, I had to smile and stand up and clap.

And you were there for the final too, what were your emotions like?

On reflection, I think we were just outclassed. We knew that Spain would have most of the possession and that is what happened, I didn’t really know what our tactics were for that game. At the full-time whistle it was strange, Ceylon and I had been so confident we would win and we were sat there thinking this just wasn’t in the script. 

The housemates we were staying with all felt the same too, I guess that is what this England side have done to us, they play with no fear believing they will win every game, and that transferred over to us as fans. So when we didn’t win, we just sat in silence for about 20 minutes, watching the trophy celebrations. It was disappointing, but going into the tournament with the injury list we had, I think we would have grabbed the chance to reach the final with two hands.

It’s an incredible legacy this side have made isn’t it, with Euro winners, Finalissima winners and World Cup runner-up status achieved in the last 12 months or so?

It really is! On the way to the final, I told Ceylon that if we won, I wouldn’t have needed to go to a football match again, because we would have achieved the pinnacle of football of being crowned world champions, where do you go from that! I’d seen the Euros win, played for the squad at Trafalgar Square the next day, and then could have seen us lift the World Cup and seen everything in women’s football. However, the journey continues I guess!

It’s also been a busy summer music-wise hasn’t it? As well as Down Under, you’ve also been in Bali, Ibiza, and played a certain festival in Somerset...

It has been really busy, as you know as I’ve missed most of pre-season! Summer is always my busiest time of year, but always fun, a lot of the players came to watch me at Glastonbury. 

That was possibly the only whole week of summer where it didn’t rain, and six or seven of the squad came to see my set which was a great laugh, and Brit came for her first Glasto experience. That kicked off the whole summer, it already feels so long ago. I hadn’t played there for a couple of years, and we closed on the Sunday night just after Elton John finished, it was so special to watch him perform.

And those Dulwich hats and shirts seem to follow you around the world don’t they?!

It is actually mad! Wherever I’ve gone in the world this summer, someone has appeared wearing something Dulwich-related. 

There have been whole groups of people, who will get down to the front to grab my attention, they just get everywhere. I love it, it is such a privilege to merge my two great passions, music and football, and now that summer is nearly done, I’m looking forward to slowing down and returning to Champion Hill full-time.