Skip to content

Hand of snog: We had first kiss at Argentina match

Holly NicholsBedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire
Tom Barnard A collage of two photographs. On the left, Tom is standing at a busy exhibition or event wearing an England football shirt while another person applies face paint to his face. On the right, Lisa is holding up a Fifa World Cup ticket and posing for a close-up photo indoors.Tom Barnard
Tom went on a press trip and met his future wife, Lisa, despite not being a football fan

A couple who shared their first kiss at the last England v Argentina World Cup match will celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary by watching the fixture once again.

Tom and Lisa Barnard, from Whitwell, Hertfordshire, met on a press trip to South Korea and Japan, before then watching the Three Lions' 1-0 victory at the Sapporo Dome in 2002.

They got married four years later, on 15 July 2006.

"We think it's quite special that our 20th wedding anniversary falls on another England-Argentina match," Tom said.

"So it's kind of [like] the stars are aligned."

Tom Barnard A group of five people are gathered around a table in a bar or restaurant. Several are holding drinks, and two people are holding up printed pages featuring a football image and Japanese text. One person in the centre foreground is raising a glass towards the camera, while another person in the background has face paint on one cheek and is holding a drink aloft.Tom Barnard
Tom and Lisa met on a work trip and watched the Three Lions' 1-0 victory against Argentina in Japan in 2002

Tom was a motoring journalist and was invited on a press trip to a car factory in South Korea.

Lisa worked at the car company that organised the holiday, which included tickets to England's hotly anticipated match.

"To be honest I wasn't terribly interested in football, I was more interested in doing the car factory tour," Tom, 53, explained to the BBC.

"I think Lisa rang up my boss and said 'I don't think he should go, I think it should be somebody who's a football fan' [but she] begrudgingly agreed."

Tom Barnard Lisa wears glasses and is stood next to Tom who has a greying beard. The are both stood on a shingle beach with the sea behind them.Tom Barnard
Lisa and Tom and Barnard will celebrate another significant date in their relationship watching England playing Argentina in a football match

The pair met at Heathrow Airport and Lisa, 54, said the connection was "immediate".

She explained "there was definitely an attraction and I was there in a professional capacity, but I still had a roving eye".

Lisa and Tom made their feelings clear for one another at the match.

"I was thinking that I would maybe ask her out when we got back home, but, the excitement of the evening I think, got the better for both of us," he said.

In what many perceived as redemption after his sending off against Argentina at the World Cup in France in 1998, David Beckham scored the all-important penalty in the 44th minute.

The pair now have two sons together.

Tom had been planning a "romantic evening" to celebrate the landmark, however Lisa said she had "put the plans on hold" in light of the semi-final match.

"It is a bit of a weird one really, the way your life turns out," Tom added.

"I never thought it would be football that would bring me together with somebody."

PA Media David Beckham in a red England football shirt runs near the camera, overcome with joy, his arms spread, and behind him is Trevor Sinclair raising his fist in celebration. Other players, including Rio Ferdinand also in a red England shirt, are out of focus in the background on the green football pitch.PA Media
David Beckham made amends for his sending off four years earlier, by tucking away his 44th-minute penalty against Argentina

Do you have a story suggestion for Beds, Herts or Bucks? Contact us below.

Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.

More on this story
Related internet links