Have travelling supporters been let down by England withdrawals?

Oliver Kay

Overheard at Berlin airport a few hours ago.

-   “Last one I missed was Azerbaijan away in 2004. Couldn’t get a visa done in time. Gutted.”

-     “That was a great trip. Bizarre place. Last one I missed was France away in 99. I had a ticket, but my old man was in hospital. I’ve only missed two since 93.”

The devotion of England’s travelling supporters is extraordinary. The same can of course be said of the supporters of every club – not just those who travel across Europe to watch their teams play in exotic and fascinating locations but also those who will think nothing of a round trip from one end of the country to the other: the handful of Brighton & Hove Albion supporters who will travel to Hartlepool this evening for an FA Cup first-round replay, for example, or the Barnet diehards who, having taken the day off work, are probably on their way to Rochdale right now.

The FA expect 7,500 England supporters to be in Berlin for tomorrow night’s friendly against Germany. A conservative estimate would be that the whole trip will cost each of them around £500. Multiply that over the course of a season, taking in remote destinations such as Kiev, Minsk and Astana as well as the more appealing Barcelona, and it is an astonishing financial commitment. Likewise, the followers of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, whose pride in their country appears to exceed that of all but the most patriotic Englishman.

So what are those 7,500 England fans expecting tomorrow night? What will make their trip worthwhile? I would advise them to have a good look around Berlin over the next 24 hours – and a good drink tonight, of course, not that they will need too much encouragement – because there appears no way that tomorrow’s friendly match will stir the soul. Germany v England it may be, but it is a friendly and one only has to look at the list of withdrawals from Fabio Capello’s squad to see how little it matters.

Contrary to some of the things you might have read or heard in the past few days, the players who have been declared unavailable – most notably Wes Brown, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Emile Heskey and Wayne Rooney – do genuinely have injuries.

It is a question of how serious those injuries are. If they had important Champions League matches for their clubs tomorrow (bear with me on this one, Emile), I would expect some of them would be asked by their managers to play through the pain barrier. And of course they would be happy to do so. There is an argument that, since the clubs pay their wages and there is nothing riding on the international matches, that is fair enough.

Is that acceptable to the 7,500 travelling fans? It is not ideal, but I get the impression that they are not preoccupied by absent friends. Nor will they be overly troubled if they are beaten tomorrow night by Germany. In the vast majority of cases, they are more interested in having a good time in Berlin, having a good sing-song during the game and being able to say “I was there”, even if at the time they might wish they were back home watching on television, just as Ferdinand, Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney and the rest will be.

To the England supporters, nothing matters more than being there, even if there is nothing riding on the game. To the England players, these are matches that you can afford to miss if you are carrying a minor injury. One of these groups appears to have lost perspective of how much a friendly match between England and Germany matters. I would be intrigued to know which group you think has got it wrong.

Comments

[Adam]

For those who travel to every corner of the earth to watch their country play, supporting England is their life. For those who play for the three lions, it is a part of their career. There is a difference. Fair play to those who make the trip but I personally can't begrudge a player if he is prioritising a game of every importance to their career (a premier league game or champs league game) to one with no importance.

[Disillusioned supporter]

Football friendlies have completely lost any meaning whatsoever. They rank only 2nd to testimonials in the list of useless and pointless exercises. Money generation only. Why the hell are Argentina in Glasgow on a cold wet Wednesday in November ? To tune their silky skills against the mighty and skillful Scots ? MM let me think about that for a second. I pity the poor misguided idiots spending their hard earned money making the trip down to see what is a glorified training exercise. Same for the punters going to Berlin. Enjoy the sleazy clubs and pubs boys !

[luca]

It would have been little more than common courtesy for Gerrard to simply pick up the phone and speak to Capello. Indeed, he might even have decided to join the gang for the evening in the simple interest of team spirit. But he did not. It has nothing to do with "friendlies". It has to do with respect for the project the new England team is putting in place. Fat chance.

[former fan robinson]

I no longer expect loyalty,commitment or talent from the English team and after 28 years following the team now support any team playing against England.

[Ricardo]

Yes the Fans are passionate about the game and their country, unfortunately the players are more interested in their status and their huge salaries, houses and cars. These Prima Donas should be dumped and real hungry hard hitting players who can take a thump and deliver a thump be brought into the team.
Here's one for the fans - hurrah, if the players were as passionate as you the world cup would be in the bag.
MB

[Paddy]

Just some thoughts on patriotism and money: Argentina have sold the merchandising rights to Russian company RENOVA. Meaning that there won't be any friendlies back home in Argentina and that there have to be a certain number of prominent players each time, so that it can be sold better. Brasil are doing something similar. That's where footbals is heading...

[Paul Nettleton]

"...after 28 years following the team now support any team playing against England"

That's just wrong, "Former Fan". How can you be such a turncoat? Yes, I agree that friendlies are not ascribed the importance they used to be, and are for the most part a little bit pointless, but they're still our national side, and we should still support them in their endeavours.

How you can have the cheek to refer to yourself as any kind of Fan is, frankly, beyond me. Your attitude speaks of everything which is wrong with the English game today. Moreover, it is a mark of serious disrespect to those who have gone before, the heroes, the winners. By supporting the opposing team, you are spitting in the face of English football, all those who have ever played it and those we have yet to see.

You ought to be ashamed of yourself.

[Henry]

I think that claiming this match is of little importance is whishful thinking. It sounds like you are trying to make excuses for a potential loss, which is likely due to the lack of so many quality players. Germany vs England matches have always been highly competitve. Of course everybody cares about the outcome of tonights match.

[De Oirish]

England fans tend to forget that they are merely a good side on a par with Ireland, Columbia and Sweden. There fans seem to demand to be the best despite consistantly falling below expectations.

I do feel however they have as good a chance as anyone for the next world cup. If these so called fans would get behind their team and support their players you may well see an upturn in form. The way some of the english national team players have been treated over the years is nothing short of disgraceful.

[Peter Pratt]

I am not sure the England fans exactly cover themselves in glory whilst 'supporting' the National Side, whatever you may say about the players, the fans should also look at themselves, I am a Liverpool fan and at Anfield I have barely ever heard a player booed....Diouf is one of the only ones in recent time...but never towards a 'home' player. However with England, it seems there are plenty who receive this treatment with the fairly unknown opposition loving every second of it!!

Fans may feell let down by the players, but I am sure that on plenty of occasions the players have felt let down by the fans!!

[Will]

I agree with Luca, so you're injured, unlucky you can't play. But from my experience of amature football/rugby, the injured players still come and support their team. Even on cold, wet, winter days when it's dark at 3pm and all you really want to do is watch a Sunday afternoon film.
So they can't play, I still feel they should go and support...I mean, that's the least of passion and pride.

And before anyone says "oh but that's a wasted trip for the players to go to berlin"...because their 100,000pounds per week is so much better off being spent on petrol and face moisturiser and the huge time difference is obviously going to give them intense jeg lag. And, whilst I'm on a rant, we cannot say that "they deserve to spend more time with their families". Some people work from in the morning til 10 at night and some spend barely any time with their families, just to earn 100,000pounds in a year!

[Thomas]

At the end of the day Football IS just a game, I'm sorry you footy nutters like to compare it to winning a war.