Frankie Flying the Flag: My Journey with Team England at the European Championships

Ever since I can remember, one of my main goals in Angling has been to represent England on the world stage! My fishing over the last ten or so years has been focused on that goal. This year, I was given the chance to put the England shirt on and head over with the team to Slovakia, to fish in the European Championships.

I have represented England at the Under-23 level on several occasions, and that was a truly extraordinary experience. However, the absolute pinnacle of your career is representing your country at a senior level! I was named the reserve for the trip, and I was excited to gain new experiences and help the team win a medal. The team consisted of Matt Godfrey, James Dent, Will Raison (Captain), Steve Hemingray, Cameron Hughes, and me. Along with manager Mark Downes, Assistant Manager Darran Bickerton and Andy Cranston. A great bunch of lads with whom I have spent a lot of time, helping the team on the bank in the last two World Championships.

I travelled over to Slovakia with my good mate Matt Godfrey and after the long journey we arrived at the venue. A massive lake in Slovakia, called Slnava. This was a lake full of fish, with the main species being skimmers and bream. Along with roach, small carp and an odd tench.

We enjoyed a great couple of days fishing off the official practise length, further round the lake in a shallower section. The sport was fantastic, plenty of bites from skimmers and small carp all on the slider, at around 25/30 metres from the bank. This was the main tactic the locals used on the lake, but a pole line would come into play (more about that later).

We had a brilliant practise week, learning loads about the venue and quite an alien way of fishing to a lot of us. We don’t fish the slider often back home in England, but we quickly got to grips with it and felt very confident on this tactic. The pole line is also very effective, especially later in the day. This was quite a surprise to a lot of the locals and something that could play into our hands going into the two-day Championships.

I had the pleasure of running the bank for Matt over the weekend. The first day of the Championships was amazing to witness, the fishing was incredible. That final hour on the pole was some of the best fishing I have ever seen. In all honesty, I was very jealous I wasn’t fishing myself, it was that good!

Matt fished a blinder, finishing second in his section with just short of 18kilos of skimmer sand bream, narrowly beaten by the Belgium angler to his right. A fantastic result for the team, who were lying joint third after the first day. Just two points off gold! We went to bed that night full of excitement, knowing we were massively in the hunt.

The final day sadly didn’t go our way on the draw front. A vital aspect in match fishing, but even more crucial when the sections are 21 pegs. Certain areas of each section were a lot more prolific, and we suffered a few bad pegs in C, D and E sections. Slipping down to fifth overall. Not the result we were aiming for, and quite gutting in all honesty, especially after being so close to a medal going into the final day.

Matt did brilliantly again, finishing second in his 21-peg section with just over 13 kilos, all on the slider, very impressive overall. Ginners finished just outside the medal places in fifth place too; had he caught just one more fish on the first day, he would have won individual gold. It was that tight! Huge congratulations to the Belgium team for winning the 2025 European Championships, they’re all top lads and very impressive anglers. Congratulations.

Overall, I had a truly incredible experience with the England team. I’ve learnt a ridiculous amount in such a short space of time. I know that being involved with such a talented team of anglers can only benefit my fishing going forward. I would like to thank managers Mark Downes and Darran for giving me the opportunity. Hopefully, it won’t be long before I put the England shirt back on and make my international debut.