Explainers

CELTIC club legend Scott Brown will not be representing Scotland at this summer’s European Championships. The 35-year-old retired from international football in early 2018 after making 55 appearances for his country between 2005 and 2017.
Scott Brown captained Celtic to nine consecutive Scottish titles between 2011 and 2020Credit: The Sun
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Instead he will join up with ITV’s star-studded line-up of studio pundits for Euro 2020.
Brown will offer insight and analysis for Scotland’s fixtures this summer and will join the likes of Ian Wright, Roy Keane, Gary Neville, Patrick Vieira and Eni Aluko in the ITV studio.
During his FOURTEEN years at Celtic Brown won the Scottish title TEN times, as well as five Scottish Cups and six Scottish League Cups.
Scott Brown scored 29 goals in fourteen years at ParkheadCredit: PA

Who has Scott Brown played for?

2002-2007 – Hibernian (110 apps)
2007-2021 – Celtic (620 apps)
2021 – Aberdeen (yet to make debut)
2005-2017 – Scotland (55 apps)

After over a decade at Parkhead Brown announced that he would be leaving the club in March of this year, and officially join Aberdeen on July 1 as a player-coach, midway through Euro 2020.
He is one of only seven players in the history of the club to have played over 600 games for Celtic.
Celtic fans thanking Scott Brown with a commemorative shirt in his final game at the clubCredit: Getty

Euro 2020 will be Scotland’s first major tournament in 23 years, after failing to qualify for every tournament since the 1998 World Cup.
Scotland’s first game to be shown live on ITV is the mouthwatering clash between the Tartan Terriers and the Auld Enemy England at Wembley on June 18.
Brown is likely to be in the ITV studio for that game, as well as Scotland’s final group game against Croatia on June 22.
Scotland look forward to Euro 2020 and is their first summer tournament since 1998 More

EURO 2020 is finally upon us with a massive festival of football ahead.It’s set to be a huge summer of action from around Europe as Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions go for glory.
Southgate will be hoping to build on a good performance in the 2018 World CupCredit: AFP
Billy Gilmour will be in action for Scotland after being picked by Steve ClarkeCredit: The Sun
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There is plenty of home nations interest as well with Wales and Scotland involved in this summer’s showpiece.
Re-arranged from last year’s cancelled tournament, Turkey face Italy in the Group A curtain-raiser in Rome.
Euro 2020 confirmed groups
There are 24 nations competing in Euro 2020, which will get underway on Friday, June 11 2021.
Of the Home Nations, three have made it to the finals with England and Scotland both in Group D, while Wales have a tough ask in Group A.

Group A: Turkey, Italy, Wales, Switzerland.
Group B: Denmark, Finland, Belgium, Russia.
Group C: Netherlands, Ukraine, Austria, North Macedonia.
Group D: England, Croatia, Czech Republic, Scotland.
Group E: Spain, Sweden, Poland, Slovakia.
Group F: Germany, France, Portugal, Hungary.

Euro 2020 fixtures
Every single match of this summer’s tournament will be shown on free-to-air TV in the UK.
You can catch the games on either the BBC or ITV, so anyone with a valid TV licence can watch.
Games kick-off at 2pm, 5pm and 8pm BST – so there’s no late nights or early mornings like we’ve had in some recent World Cup’s.
If you want to stream, the BBC iPlayer and ITV Hub will allow you to do so – all you have to do is create a free account.

The best TV deals for Euro 2020 including LG, Sony, Toshiba and more

GROUP STAGE – Matchday 1
Friday, June 11

Turkey 0-3 Italy

Saturday, June 12

Wales vs Switzerland, 2pm (Group A, BBC/S4C for Welsh language commentary)
Denmark vs Finland, 5pm (Group B, BBC)
Belgium vs Russia, 8pm (Group B, ITV)

Sunday, June 13

England vs Croatia, 2pm (Group D, BBC)
Austria vs North Macedonia, 5pm (Group C, ITV)
Holland vs Ukraine, 8pm (Group C, ITV)

Monday, June 14

Scotland vs Czech Republic, 2pm (Group D, BBC)
Poland vs Slovakia, 5pm (Group E, ITV)
Spain vs Sweden, 8pm (Group E, BBC)

Tuesday, June 15

Hungary vs Portugal, 5pm (Group F, ITV)
France vs Germany, 8pm (Group F, ITV)

GROUP STAGE – Matchday 2
Wednesday, June 16

Finland vs Russia, 2pm (Group B, BBC)
Turkey vs Wales, 5pm (Group A, BBC/S4C for Welsh language commentary)
Italy vs Switzerland, 8pm (Group A, ITV)

Thursday, June 17

Ukraine vs North Macedonia, 2pm (Group C, ITV)
Denmark vs Belgium, 5pm (Group B, ITV)
Holland vs Austria, 8pm (Group C, BBC)

Friday, June 18

Sweden vs Slovakia, 2pm (Group E, BBC)
Croatia vs Czech Republic, 5pm (Group D, BBC)
England vs Scotland, 8pm (Group D, ITV)

Saturday, June 19

Hungary vs France, 2pm (Group F, BBC)
Portugal vs Germany, 5pm (Group F, ITV)
Spain vs Poland, 8pm (Group E, BBC)

GROUP STAGE – Matchday 3
Sunday, June 20

Italy vs Wales, 5pm (Group A, ITV/S4C for Welsh language commentary)
Switzerland vs Turkey, 5pm (Group A, ITV)

Monday, June 21

Ukraine vs Austria, 5pm (Group C, ITV)
North Macedonia vs Holland, 5pm (Group C, ITV)
Russia vs Denmark, 8pm (Group B, BBC)
Finland vs Belgium, 8pm (Group B, BBC)

Tuesday, June 22

Croatia vs Scotland, 8pm (Group D, ITV)
Czech Republic vs England, 8pm (Group D, ITV)

Wednesday, June 23

Sweden vs Poland, 5pm (Group E, ITV)
Slovakia vs Spain, 5pm (Group E, ITV)
Portugal vs France, 8pm (Group F, BBC)
Germany vs Hungary, 8pm (Group F, BBC)

KNOCKOUT STAGE – Round of 16
Saturday, June 26

Match one – Runner up Group A vs Runner-up Group B, 6pm
Match two – Winner Group A vs Runner-up Group C, 8pm

Sunday, June 27

Match three – Winner Group C vs 3rd Group D/E/F, 6pm
Match four – Winner Group B vs 3rd Group A/D/E/F, 8pm

Monday, June 28

Match five – Runner-up Group D vs Runner-up Group E, 6pm
Match six – Winner Group F vs 3rd Group A/B/C. 8pm

Tuesday, June 29

Match seven – Winner Group D vs Runner-up Group F, 6pm
Match eight – Winner Group E vs 3rd Group A/B/C/D, 8pm

KNOCKOUT STAGE – Quarter-finals
Friday, July 2

Winner of Match six vs Winner of Match five, 6pm
Winner of Match four vs Winner of Match two, 8pm

Saturday, July 3

Winner of Match three vs Winner of Match one, 6pm
Winner of Match eight vs Winner of match seven, 8pm

KNOCKOUT STAGE – Semi-finals
Tuesday, July 6

Quarter-final two winner vs Quarter-final one winner, 8pm

Wednesday, July 7

Quarter-final four winner vs Quarter-final three winner, 8pm

KNOCKOUT STAGE – Final
Sunday, July 11

Semi-final one winner vs Semi-final two winner, 8pm

This summer’s showpiece will be held at Wembley in LondonCredit: PA
Where will the Euro 2020 final be held?
In a huge boost for Gareth Southgate and England, the semi-finals and final will be held at Wembley Stadium.
Euro 2020 confirmed venues are:

Rome (Stadio Olimpico)
Baku (Olympic Stadium)
Copenhagen (Parken Stadium)
St Petersburg (St Petersburg Stadium)
Amsterdam (Johan Crujff Arena)
Bucharest (National Arena)
London (Wembley Stadium)
Glasgow (Hampden Park)
Budapest (Puskás Aréna)
Munich (Fußball Arena München)
Seville (La Cartuja Stadium) More

ANTHONY TAYLOR has the honour of refereeing at Euro 2020 this summer.A familiar face to fans of the Premier League, Taylor will take charge of Denmark vs Finland as Group B gets underway on June 12.
Taylor will be in the middle for Group B clash between Denmark and FinlandCredit: Ryan Browne-The Times
Here is everything you need to know about the referee.Who is Anthony Taylor?
Anthony Taylor is from Wythenshawe, Manchester.
He first started refereeing in the Northern Premier League in 2002.
Taylor refereed his first Premier League game eight years later in February 2010, taking charge of Fulham’s 1-0 win over Portsmourh.
Has he refereed a major tournament before?
A former prison officer, Taylor doesn’t take any nonsense on the field – and believes he has taken the tough qualities of that job into his refereeing.
He explained: “Working in a prison meant I needed a lot of communication and management qualities to deal with daily situations.
“I spent a considerable number of years working with those who suffered severe mental health problems, a lot of attempted suicides, that kind of thing.
“I’ve seen the depths that people can reach, sometimes through no fault of their own.”
Taylor is heading to his first international tournament this summer but has big game experience having taking charge of the 2020 Super Cup final.

What happened with Arsene Wenger?
Arsene Wenger was seen shoving Taylor after Burnley were awarded a late penalty at the Emirates in February 2017.
Following the match, Taylor, who was fourth official, accused Wenger of swearing at him and questioning his integrity.
Taylor wrote in his post-match report: “Mr Wenger left his technical area to confront me in disagreement at the decision.
“Before he said anything I said ‘think carefully before you say anything’.
Arsene Wenger and Anthony Taylor have historyCredit: Reuters
“He responded by saying ‘you are dishonest to your federation’.
“I considered this to be questioning both mine and the referee, Jon Moss’s integrity and impartiality.
“I stated to Mr Wenger that such a comment was not acceptable and he told me to ‘f*** off’ on two separate occasions.”
The then-Arsenal boss subsequently received a four-match ban for his behaviour. More