England have been singing about football coming home for an age, but after the barren years of misery, it came through the door into the welcoming arms of Wembley as the Lionesses were crowned European champion.
When the captain lifted that piece of silverware above her head, it all looked and sounded real.
The Lionesses of England secured their place in the history of the game by winning the Euros. The women of England had won a trophy. The England senior football team had won a trophy.
The coach and her players made themselves legends on a day when 87,192 attended Wembley.
The women of England were the center of attention. The winners were announced. They can't be taken away from this.
It had been many years since the years of disappointment had ended. England's football had a success story, a winning story, to tell at last, and no-one deserved it more than a coach and squad that have changed the face of women's football in this country.
For those of us who followed the England men's team for a long time, the journey has taken in Japan, Portugal, Germany, South Africa, Poland and Ukraine, Brazil, France, Russia and last summer's World Cup.
This was what it was like to watch an England team win a trophy, how the Lionesses deserved it, how they had the right to milk every second of Wembley's ecstasy, and how the support team looked out at a sea of thousands of smiling fans.
It was a little more than a year ago when the England men's team came close to ending the curse, but lost on penalties to Italy in the Euro 2020 final.
The day was defaced by crowd behavior, a lack of organization and racial abuse of the England players who missed penalties in the shootout that left the crushing loss as simply another item on a grim agenda.
This day was joyful, peaceful, but still containing all the danger and tension that accompanies a major final. The atmosphere didn't lose anything for that. This still felt like a big occasion, but it wasn't as toxic as it could have been. It might catch on.
The game was not a classic, but it was fiercely fought, at times brutal, and came up with a storyline that England football fans have been waiting for.
The game-changing moment for women's football will be 31 July 2022, when England win the World Cup, as they have done before in this tournament when times have been difficult. With this team capturing the hearts and minds of a nation, a new era is about to begin.
The match-winner in the semi-final against Sweden was the central figure in the famous backheel by Alessia Russo.
The dangerous Germans, cruelly robbed of top scorer and talisman Alex Popp after she was injured in the warm-up, struck back with a goal from a dangerous player.
With the prospect of penalties looming, Kelly emerged from a scramble at a corner to score the winning goal.
The memory of what happened will last a long time. It was an English moment.
She ripped off her shirt when she scored the winning penalty in the 1999 World Cup. She will give an image for the ages.
Kelly had been introduced in one of the masterful changes that had been implemented.
Wembley was knee-deep in chewed fingernails, but they survived with barely an anxious moment thanks to a masterpiece of game management that kept the ball in the corner and therefore Germany at arm's length.
Kelly ran away from her post- match interview when Kateryna Monzul sounded the final whistle. Lucy Bronze launched herself head first into the confetti that exploded behind England as they lifted the trophy.
England lost three semi-finals and needed a new coach. The job was finished.
She has given off a calm demeanor. She stuck with the same team for six games, and for all the arguments about whether Ellen White should start or not, she could point to a silver trophy.
This was the crowning glory of an unforgettable Euro. In the best way, women's football will never be the same again.
As she left the scene of England's victory, she said that they changed society.
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