England unites behind Lionesses ahead of World Cup semi-final

Primary school children, the UK's "most patriotic" street and a barking police dog lead the messages of support being sent to the Lionesses ahead of their World Cup semi-final against the USA.

St Gregory CEVC Primary School in Sudbury, Suffolk, shared a video to Twitter of their pupils chanting "it's coming home", the famous lines from Baddiel, Skinner and the Lightning Seeds' 1996 classic Three Lions.

According to headteacher Daniel Woodrow the children, who donned their England kits to school to show their support, decided to make the video after doing similar for the men's team playing in last year's World Cup in Russia.

"There's just been a real buzz around the tournament so some of the children came to us asking to do it again," Mr Woodrow told PA.

"When the children come in and go to their coat pegs in the morning you hear 'I can't wait for the game tonight', 'did you see the goals last night', 'cor Cameroon were a bit dirty' and things like that."

Another school to be flying the flag for the Lionesses is St Anne's Catholic Primary School in Leyland, who met with the Lancashire FA for the day and shared a loud message.

"The enthusiasm for supporting England's Lionesses from girls and boys alike was fantastic," said Michael Nadal of the Lancashire FA.

"Let's hope that they can go all the way and continue to inspire the next generation of female footballers."

After hitting headlines for their similarly grand displays during the men's World Cup last year, residents of Kirby Estate in south east London have adorned their homes with hundreds of English flags to show their support.

Chris Dowse, 40, said his is the "most patriotic" estate in the whole of the UK, having put on displays for St George's Day and England's appearances at football tournaments since 2012.

"We haven't gone full scale like we did last year but I'd still say there was about 150 flags flying for our Lionesses," said Mr Dowse, who is self-employed.

"The women's game hasn't got as widespread coverage as the men's – hopefully if people can see we're doing it for the women as we'll hopefully it encourages a young girl to go out and kick a football around.

"I think people are afraid to fly our flag these days... but it's just to show we're proud to be English and we'll support whoever's playing football, wherever."

Mr Dowse added that if the Lionesses reach the final there will be more flags added to the display.

"As I said to the men last year, do your best and that's all we can ask for – but bring it home," he said.

Finally, in a video shared to Twitter, police dog Kolt shared his thoughts on whether football would be coming home with the Lionesses in the only way he knows how.

Asked "is it coming home?" by PC Chadwick of the Lincolnshire Police dog section, Kolt offered an encouraging bark.