England 2 France 0

Match 44/15/1249 - Tuesday, 17th November 2015 - International

England (1) 2 Alli 39, Rooney 47
France (0) 0
Attendance: 71,233

Entrance: £30
Programme: £6
Mileage: 100/3,146

Match Report

Prior to Friday’s atrocities in Paris, despite having already bought a ticket, I had little interest in this international. I’ve long bemoaned Wembley in this column as lacking in atmosphere, inhabited by drunks and thugs and serving up a series of absolutely dreadful football matches that made for a largely unpleasant experience.

After the Paris attacks, my first thoughts, in regards to the game, were that it should be cancelled. There was an element of risk to the public and it had to be questioned whether the French would want to play. Initially, it seemed that was the case but over the weekend the French Football Federation stated they wanted the game to go ahead, a show of defiance if you like, and from that point a morbid curiosity in how this delicate situation would be handled kicked in.

Police with automatic weapons on Wembley Way was an early signed that this was to be no ordinary evening. The pre-match ceremonies were to include the singing of La Marseillaise after, rather than before, God Save The Queen with the request that it is sung by everybody; the raising of a mosaic that would form the tricolor and the laying of wreathes by the respective manager’s Roy Hodgson and Didier Deschamps alongside the Duke of Cambridge and ended with a minute’s silence. Just how would the Wembley crowd react, let’s face it every opponent’s anthem has been booed since the mists of time. The answer was with the greatest of respect.

The French players were applauded as they took to the field for their pre-match warm-up and cheered when their starting line-up was announced. If you’ve no French in your vocabulary, La Marseillaise is not the easiest of songs to sing even if the words are projected onto a giant screen, but Wembley did its best, even if, like myself, you chose just to la-la along with the on-field choir.

Following the laying of the wreathes which remained on the edge of the technical area during the match, the two squads mingled together for photographs to the accompaniment of loud applause whilst the silence was observed perfectly with only the drone of overhead helicopters to be heard as the players formed a circle in the centre of the pitch. Every moment had been treated with total respect as football, and its supporters, looked ISIL in the face and defiantly said, life goes on.

The match itself produced one of the better performances in recent times from England, whose starting line-up was almost ludicrously young. Unfortunately, there will always be the caveat that the French hearts were not in the game and this showed as at times they looked decidedly ordinary.

Hopefully though the starting debut of Dele Alli will not get lost among the other remembrances of this day. The Tottenham youngster was outstanding and his 39th minute goal should live long in the memory. He initially won the ball in a midfield challenge with Morgan Schneiderlin and when Wayne Rooney laid a pass back to him, his dipping shot found the top corner beating his club mate, Hugo Lloris.

Rooney added a second after 47 minutes with a volley after Alli had won another tackle in the middle of the park and sent Rahim Sterling away down the left to supply the cross for the goal.

The match drifted away into the night with the usual raft of substitutions, one of which, the introduction of Lassana Diarra, who had lost his cousin in the attack, brought heart warming applause.

Walking back along Wembley Way, with England and French supporters side-by-side, I was reflecting on a decision made that this would be the end of my time as an England member and having the thought that if every game had been blessed with this atmosphere I would not be making this choice. So sad that it took a tragedy of this magnitude to engender the feel-good factor into Wembley.

England 2 Estonia 0

Match 30/15/1235 - Friday, 9th October 2015 - European Championship Q

England (1) 2 Walcott 45, Sterling 85
Estonia (01) 0
Attendance: 75,427

Entrance: £40
Programme: £6
Mileage: 100/1,889

Match Report

When grown men are reduced to flicking elastic bands to occupy themselves, you can safely assume the entertainment on offer is pretty damn awful. Using the old cliche, watching paint dry would have been a far preferable use of 90 minutes of my time.

This qualifying campaign will be my last as a member of the England Supporters Club, a membership that I've retained since before 1996 and the days when it was simply known as the England Travel Club. As a football team, England can only beat what is put before them and there is little room for complaint against a side carrying a perfect record going into their last fixture.

But UEFA and FIFA's desire to expand their competitions has diluted qualifying and meaningful games are becoming a rarity. Since Wembley reopened back in 2007, there have only been two such games both against Croatia and to a lesser extent, those against Montenegro and Poland in the last campaign.

England's sole threat in this group was Switzerland and when they were beaten in Berne in the opening match, the rest was a foregone conclusion.

I've made it no secret on this blog that I've long since fell out of love with Wembley. Thugs, drunks and lousy matches have turned it into an expensive chore.

The match itself did nothing more than prove my point. England won without breaking sweat. It took 30 minutes for Joe Hart to lay a glove on the ball and the biggest question mark against the home side was that they took 45 minutes to open the scoring.

A big plus was Ross Barkley, whose pass opened up the Estonians for Theo Walcott to break the offside trap and open the scoring.

Two rows in front, one couple wandered in with just 15 minutes of the first half remaining and departed after 15 of the second. By the 70th minute people were leaving in their droves and when I picked a random 82nd minute to leave, somebody in front said "turn the lights out when you go".

That 82nd minute departure meant I missed Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's goal, but only having 20,000 in front of me in the queue for the tube rather than 75,000 made it worthwhile.

I'll continue to take in England games when, or more likely if, they are worthwhile. I just won't have the pressure of caps for tournaments to come in Russia and Qatar to worry about.

England 4 Lithuania 0

Match 76/14/1185 - Friday 27th March 2015 - Euro Qualifier

England (2) 4 Rooney 6, Welbeck 45, Sterling 58, Kane 73
Lithuania (0) 0
Att. 83,671

Entrance: £35
Programme: Free
Mileage: 100/5,598

Match Report

In the lifetime of this blog, there have been three instances in which a Wembley Qualifier has actually meant anything. Two were against Croatia which yielded memorable evenings, in 2007 the night of the Wally with the Brolly and in 2009, the 5-1 rout and in 2013 the 2-0 defeat of Poland that assured qualification for the Brazil World Cup. Of course, old Wembley bore witness to many evenings of qualification (or otherwise), Poland, and the supposed clown Jan Tomaszewski, in 1973 and the play-off win against Scotland in 1999. I’m left to speculate whether we will ever witness the tension of those games again.

Following the expansion of European Championship to 24 teams, the path to the tournament finals has been smoothed for the major teams. It is no longer necessary to finish first to qualify automatically, second, or even third for one country, will suffice whilst the rest of the third place teams will contest the play-offs.

England’s path to France next year was virtually cleared in Basel back in September when they confidently dispatched Switzerland, their only realistic challengers. All they can do now is to beat what is put before them and with an unblemished record after five matches they are achieving that, almost without breaking sweat.

Lithuania, who arrived at Wembley in equal second place in the group table, offered nothing in terms of ambition, other than to keep the score down to a respectable number and Joe Hart was nothing more than an addition to the 83,000 crowd.

With so little interest in the group, the sub-plots almost become more interesting than the result itself. Wayne Rooney is closing in on Bobby Charlton’s 49 England goals, when will he break that record and can the debutant Harry Kane reproduce his magnificent Premier League form for Tottenham.

The answer to the first question might have been answered in the first 20 minutes in which Rooney scored and hit the woodwork twice. After three minutes, sent clear by a Fabian Delph pass, Rooney hit a post but was not to be denied three minutes later when a shot from Danny Welbeck looped back from the Lithuanian goalkeeper onto the head of the England captain to open the scoring. After 20 minutes, from a Welbeck cross, he placed another header against the bar.

On the stroke of half-time, a stooping header from Welbeck that came more off his shoulder than his head found its way into the net via a deflection for a 2-0 scoreline that better reflected England’s dominance.

When Raheem Sterling converted Rooney’s cross just before the hour the floodgates were set to be opened and the scene was set for Kane’s introduction. After 79 seconds on the pitch, his third touch was a far post header from Sterling’s cross, cleverly directed downwards that the goalkeeper could only help into the net. It was a surreal, Roy of the Rovers moment, but one in a season when everything Kane touches turns to gold, Wembley almost expected, just not after 79 seconds.

England’s path to France will not be producing a dramatic climax but a cruise that is not really going to give many clues to how they will fare when they get there.

England 1 Denmark 0

Match 64/13/1091 - Wedmesday, 5th March 2014 - International

England (0) 1 Sturridge 82
Denmark (0) 0
Att. 68,573

Entrance: £30
Programme: £6
Mileage: 160/6,478

Match Report

I am going to officially hang-up my boots from International Friendlies, if I needed any confirmation that this decision was to be the correct one, it was the Roy Hodgson interview on the radio on the way home. I've no axe to grind with Roy, he is doing a good job with the "tools" he has at his disposal, but the interview smacked of taking the paying public for mugs. Hodgson explained his delight at the victory and took many positives from the game, such was the upbeat nature it left me to wonder whether I had actually attended the wrong stadium.

For years, long before Roy, probably long before Sven, these friendlies have been pointless and tedious. For us England fans that wished to travel to the high profile tournaments and qualifying games accumulating loyalty points through attendance was the only way to ensure tickets and even then just a couple of missed games could lead to being outside of the number of caps needed for the most sought after games. The member was being held to ransom, we probably still are but I'm no longer prepared to suffer these games for any reason.

Over the years, I've seen a few England v Denmark or Sweden games and they always follow the same pattern . . . they are so boring. This one was no exception, it was probably worse. Roy may take a lot of positives, I can think of just three, one on the pitch and two off. On the pitch there is the Southampton connection with Adam Lallana coming off the bench to inject a bit of quality and laying the winning goal on a plate for Daniel Sturridge and Luke Shaw looking strong and composed, belying his tender 18 years. Off the pitch, we had a welcome quiet night, with no thugs and drunks to contend with. The final plus was the fantastic response to the tribute to Sir Tom Finney. He shared his minute’s applause with Bert Williams and the Danish manager from the 90s, Richard Moller Nielsen. As Finney’s name was announced the applause began to ring around Wembley, no prompt from the referee’s whistle was required, it brought a lump to my throat for a man I never saw play but just had the word of my seniors that the man was worthy of the title of legend.

We had a couple of inward laughs at some of the people around us though. Just prior to kick-off a group of six well-dressed young men politely passed us to their seats. They looked as though they had come straight from their jobs in the City. One of the lads was carrying his paperback book, it amused us and when they exited their seats with about five minutes remaining, I'm sure his bookmarker had moved on about 50 pages. But joking apart, I'm absolutely sure he got more out of his evening with his head buried in his novel than we did staring at the tedium being served up on the Wembley turf.

And then there was the couple behind us. They were middle-aged and it would be easy to ascertain that the wife hadn't been to many football matches in her lifetime. Her husband spent the early stages of game explaining who each player was and when he came to Sturridge he simply explained that he played for Liverpool . . . on the TV! I suppose it tells us all where we are at with football and television in 2014.

I understand that Argentina are going to be one of the early opponents next season in a friendly and that will test my resolve. I've no doubt that the opportunity to see Messi and Co will be a big hook and I'm probably going to be reeled in, but can I expect anything different from this woeful experience, I doubt it very much.

England 0 Germany 1

Match 42/13/1069 - Tuesday, 19th November 2013 - International

England (0) 0
Germany (1) 1 Merteseker
Att. 85,950

Entrance: £40
Programme: £6
Mileage: 100/4,777

Three games in quick succession and whilst there was a real high at Bramall Lane, the next two brought lows, and this one brought a particular trough.

I can live with the fact that, frankly, England are not very good. As football supporters, whether it be your club side or the national side, you have to learn to treat the impostors of victory and defeat the same and move on to the next celebration or disappointment. But Wembley has a side to it that is becoming, sorry has become, unpalatable, the behaviour of the people around you.

I hoped that an incident with a thug at the Wales game two years ago was just a one-off, wrong place, wrong time, etc., but another incident leaves me wondering whether these situations are so rife at Wembley they are almost unavoidable.

The FA assure us that these are rare occurrences, sadly we know otherwise.

The match itself no longer had any relevance, England failed to register a shot on goal and Per Merteseker headed home the winner, all that I wanted was to get away from a stadium that once held such magic.

England 2 Poland 0

Match 33/13/1060 - Tuesday, 15th October 2013 - World Cup Qualifying

England (1) 2 Rooney 41, Gerrard 88
Poland (0) 0
Att. 85,186

Entrance: £30
Programme: £6.00
Mileage: 160/2,727

Match Report

There is something unbecoming of a 62 year old man turning on the exit stairs to take one last look at the England team taking the acclaim of their supporters and bellowing "We Love Yer, Woy". But such was the unbridled joy, or was it sheer relief, following Steven Gerrard's 88th minute clincher of a place in next year's Brazilian World Cup Finals, that any slight political incorrectness was going to be washed away in the tide of emotion.

What a night, one of those that Wembley has seen all too few of since its reopening, one that was given a massive contribution by the amazing Polish support that in turn brought out the best from their English counterparts. Poland arrived for the final game of their disappointing campaign with nothing to lose and a freedom to express themselves and any team with Robert Lewandowski in its ranks are to be respected.

The no-hopers of San Marino left England with clarity of mind; only a win would see them avoid the perils of the play-offs where the likes of France and Portugal laid in wait.

The colour and vibrancy of the Polish support surfaced with the singing (or whistling at) of the national anthems. Vivid red flares were burning bright as the visiting anthem was played, how they manage to smuggle these things past security beats me.

England carried the momentum from their Friday victory over Montenegro with them in the opening half, the hand brake removed they were asked to go for broke and the three pronged attack alongside Andros Townsend who continued his sparkling arrival on the international scene. Poland’s failing in this campaign has centred on their failure to defend but on this occasion, subjected to intense pressure from their hosts, they threw bodies in front of everything England could muster and when clear shooting opportunities presented themselves, England found Arsenal’s Wojciech Szczesny in top form.

Although Poland, aware of threat that Townsend had presented, doubled up with defenders facing him, the winger brought the first save from Szczesny who could only parry his shot into the path of Danny Welbck, but the striker failed to get a good contact on the return. Townsend cracked a shot against the crossbar, Daniel Sturridge just failed to get the ball out from under his feet and Welbeck also stumbled as he went through one on one with the Polish keeper. But all the while this was happening Poland still carried a significant threat on the counter-attack. Direct from an England corner, a frighteningly quick move ended with Lewandowski clear on the right hand side of the box, as Joe Hart narrowed the angle, the Borussia Dortmund striker steered his shot wide of the far wide. It was a heart-stopping moment; Lewandowski doesn’t normally miss from close range.

If England can afford to lose one of their first choice players it is Ashley Cole because there is a wafer thin difference in quality between him and his deputy, Leighton Baines. After 41 quite thrilling, but nerve wracking minutes, Baines crossed perfectly from the left and Rooney rose the highest to plant a firm header into the right hand corner of the net. Rooney’s protective headband had fallen from his head moments earlier and Szczesny was left to do the polite thing and return it to the goalscorer.

The second half progressed in much the same vein. England continued to press on but Poland were striking fear into the England support whenever they counter-attacked. It was never going to be a night for breathing easily and when Lewandowski broke free again, the onrushing Hart managed to get a touch on the striker’s clipped shot before it was cleared to safety, breath was being held once again.

Two minutes remained when Wembley was finally offered the opportunity to indulge in a bit of pre-Rio carnival atmosphere. James Milner, on as a substitute to bolster the midfield, knocked the ball forward to Steven Gerrard, who rode the challenge Kamil Glik to prod the ball past Szczesny to set up the joyous celebrations.

In a campaign that, at times had been torturous, with Hodgson’s cautious approach bringing much press criticism, the manager went bold and over two memorable Wembley occasions, England produced their two best performances. Whether England can continue to play in this fashion come the Finals is another question, would they be able to attack Germany, for instance, in the same manner, I would like to think that Hodgson would see it as a situation in which they had nothing to lose in approaching the game with the same attitude.

For the next six months, Hodgson must watch on, helplessly, as his players are at the mercy of their Premiership managers. How much game are his young players going to get is going to be crucial in the run up to Brazil almost as much as the fear that a major injury, that always seems to happen, is going to be inflicted on one of his key players.

But for now, it is time to celebrate, however unbecoming it might be for the older man.

England 4 Montenegro 1

Match 31/13/1058 - Friday, 11th October 2013 - World Cup Qualifying

England (0) 4 Rooney 48, Boskovic (o.g.) 62, Townsend 78,
Sturridge 90 (pen)
Montenegro (0) 1 Damjanovic 71
Att. 83,807

Entrance: £30
Programme: £6.00
Mileage: 160/2,407

Match Report

The observant of you will notice that the next three entries have been posted rather late so if I drift into the benefit of hindsight, you’ll have to forgive me. This was the start of a big three games in my season, three games that would, to a certain extent, shape the season to come.

England’s task was almost crystal clear, two wins, over Montenegro and then in the final qualifier at Wembley against Poland would ensure that they reached the World Cup Finals in Brazil, a draw in the Poland v Ukraine game in Kharkiv would offer a slightly easier passage, but by half time at Wembley we knew that a 64th minute winner from Ukraine’s Andriy Yarmolenko had denied this route.

Montenegro arrived at Wembley still harbouring dreams of their own and having three draws in three games against England to their credit, this was never going to be a gimme.

The criticism that had surrounded England’s performance in the Ukraine when they employed an ultra-cautious game plan that yielded a priceless goalless draw had also confirmed a character type on Roy Hodgson that would not suggest a bold team selection in the first of the Wembley double-header. But bold was the selection that saw Jack Wilshere relegated to the bench along with the much safer option of James Milner in order to employ a three pronged attack in Daniel Sturridge, Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck, whilst also adding the pace of Tottenham’s Andros Townsend for a first start.

The evening had started badly, a wet Friday on the M25 always spells trouble with a capital T and this one was all that and more. Eventually the kick off was missed and six minutes had elapsed before we were in our seats.

The game reached half time with plenty of anxious faces among the England support. The goalless scoreline barely reflected the one-sided nature of the game; chances had come and gone for England thwarted by the Montenegran keeper, Vukasin Poleksic who was drafted in as the first choice goalkeeper was injured. Meanwhile, a couple of route one attacks had found England’s central defensive pairing a little wanting adding to the nervousness surrounding Wembley.

The first half had also seen a taste of what Andros Townsend is about and his direct running with the ball at his feet had been the highlight of the opening 45 minutes. Within a couple of minutes of the start of the second half, Townsend was once again terrorising his full back and his cross into the box was weakly headed clear to the feet of Welbeck whose shot was parried by Poleksic but only as far as Rooney who finished smartly under pressure. The relief around Wembley was tangible.

England fans were beginning to celebrate an important step on the road to Brazil when just after the hour mark, Branko Boskovic diverted the ball into his own net to double the home nation’s advantage. England, of course, would not be England if they didn’t conspire to do things the hard way and following a 25 yard shot from Stevan Jovetic that crashed against the crossbar the Montenegrans reduced the arrears with 18 minutes remaining when a shot from range was diverted into the net by Dejan Damjanovic. Wembley was on edge once more.

But the star of the show was about to have his final say on proceedings. Townsend ran at the defence, cutting inside to unleash a 25 yard shot that went in off a post to crown a personally glorious debut. The 22-year-old was substituted with ten minutes remaining allowing him to take the full ovation of a thankful Wembley crowd.

Sturridge was brought down in the box in the closing minute and Rooney stood aside from his penalty taking duties to allow the Liverpool striker round off the scoring and place an emphatic scoreline on the board.

The group situation had demanded that England approached this game on the front foot and cautious Roy became bold Roy and was richly rewarded. The same modus operandi needs to be taken forward to Tuesday when 20,000 Poles are going to make home turf a hostile environment for Roy’s Boys whose are one win from becoming the Boys in Brazil.

England 4 Moldova 0

Match 21/13/1048 - Friday, 6th September 2013 - World Cup Qualifier

England (3) 4 Gerrard 12, Lambert 26, Welbeck 45, 50
Moldova (0) 0
Att. 61,607

Entrance: £30
Programme: £6
Mileage: 100/1,569

Match Report

The last Wembley game against the Scots saw the emergence of a comic book character in the shape of Roy of the Rovers being portrayed by Ricky Lambert. This World Cup Qualifier also had a comic character in its midst, this time it could have been the hapless Frank Spencer being acted out by Moldova’s hopeless goalkeeper, Stanislav Namasco.

Namasco, who reportedly was brilliant in Moldova’s last qualifier against Poland, was directly responsible for two of the four goals with question marks against him for a third. We have come to accept that foreign goalkeepers plying their trade in the Premier League prefer to punch the ball clear rather than catch, but Namasco’s quality in dealing with anything aerial into his six yard box was not what you might have expected had you been playing in front of him for the Dog and Duck.

Moldova were so inept that England made light work of the absence of Wayne Rooney, lost to a training ground head wound and Daniel Sturridge. Such was the lack of strikers available to Roy Hodgson, he was able to name Lambert as his centre forward the day before the game.

With England’s most crucial game of the campaign due on Tuesday in Kiev, it also re-opened the debate regarding the relative strength of the national team in relation to the Premier League. The debate had been fuelled by new FA Chairman, Greg Dyke’s rather laughable assertion that England should be looking to win the World Cup in 2022. A banner read, Dyke’s Goals Are Our Goals but why wait until 2022? Unfortunately, unless there is radical thinking within the FA, even this ambition seems beyond reach.

As a humble fan’s opinion, the root of the problem lies with the Premier League and the players the clubs bring in from abroad thus stifling the progress of English-born young players. It is not the Van Persie’s or Ozil’s that need to be cut from the rotas, they bring a quality that our kids should be able to learn from, but the players that turn up from the likes of Costa Rica or Panama with the necessary amount of caps to obtain a work permit. A more stringent criterion for the awarding of a work permit for those outside of EU law would open up places in the Premier League for our own to develop. This is actually within the FA’s jurisdiction although the final decision is with the Home Office.

Change is for tomorrow, today was putting Moldova away before attention turned to Ukraine. An early goal was the requirement to alleviate any building of pressure and it came after just 12 minutes. An early foray had already exposed Namasco’s shortcomings before Danny Welbeck and Frank Lampard combined to set up Steven Gerrard for a drive from 20 yards.

Namasco’s first comedy moment came on 26 minutes when after a period of England onslaught, Theo Walcott’s shot to the near post was parried across the face of the goal by the keeper to Lambert who headed home at the far post.

Worse was to come from our Moldovian comedian on the stroke of half time. A long ball over the top from Lambert saw him rushing from his goal to close down Welbeck, however, he then appeared to actually get out of the way of the Manchester United striker who was able to drift past him and dribble to ball into an empty net.

The same pairing produced a fourth early in the second half, Welbeck exquisitely lifting the ball over the prostrate keeper who was doing his best to make sure that the ball didn’t hit his head.

England duly declared, Welbeck had picked up a needless, though harsh booking, ruling him out of the Ukraine game, so Lambert was withdrawn to preserve his fitness along with Jack Wilshere and, at half time, Ashley Cole who was also sitting on a yellow card from a previous qualifier.

Lambert’s reason for withdrawal takes us back to the argument surrounding the lack of depth to England’s squad and Hodgson goes into the crucial qualifier with only Jermaine Defoe, far from a regular starter at Tottenham, as a partner for the Southampton striker.

It was another night for comic book characters, my fervent hope for Tuesday evening is that Roy Hodgson isn’t fulfilling the role of Desperate Dan.

England 3 Scotland 2

Match 15/13/1042 - Wednesday, 14th August 2013 - International

England (1) 3 Walcott 29, Wellbeck 53, Lambert 70
Scotland (1) 2 Morrison 11, Miller 49
Att. 80,485

Entrance: £40
Programme: £6
Mileage: 100/1,126

Match Report

As much as I looked forward to the first England v Scotland game since 1999, there was an apprehension that it could be a night when trouble was never going to be far away and the football would end up as a sideshow, I need not have worried.

The Tartan Army were magnificent and they brought out the best in England's support. Wembley has so often resembled a funeral parlour and the England team has done little to engender an atmosphere, but this meeting of the Auld Enemy created an electric atmosphere and, on the pitch, a cracking match ensued.

Scotland came to Wembley as underdogs but played their part in a game that produced the ultimate Roy of the Rovers story as England twice behind, finally put the game to bed with a Ricky Lambert winner with 20 minutes remaining.

Officially there were 20,000 Scots inside Wembley, but almost without doubt, many of the general sale tickets had fallen into the hands of the tartan hordes and some estimates were that they made up half of the 80,000 crowd.

The walk to Wembley passed an area where a couple of pubs are usually the domain of England fans but the Scots were heavy in evidence. There was plenty of alcohol being consumed but the mood was jovial and not in the least threatening. As we approached the stadium concourse, it became apparent that there was a line that wasn't to be crossed with alcohol being consumed and it was amusing to watch the Scottish women pulling rank with their menfolk and ordering the consumption or the disposal of their cans.

Our seats were an experiment, having enjoyed the view from the lower tier behind the goal at the FA Vase Final, we decided to give them a go for an England match. At first we thought we had struck lucky, but once the game started and nobody sat down in front of us, we became aware that we were in for a night on our feet, something that happened the last time Scotland came to Wembley in 1999.

What we lost in the comfort of sitting in our seats we gained in being in the thick of the atmosphere. Much as the England fans tried to drown out Flower of Scotland, the anthem came through load and clear and once God Save The Queen received similar treatment the scene was set for 90 minutes of passionate support.

First to celebrate were the Tartan Army as Joe Hart made a complete hash of a shot from James Morrison. A combination of Danny Wellbeck and Theo Walcott failed to clear the ball to safety and the 20 yard shot from the West Bromwich Albion striker went through the hands of the England goalkeeper.

After 29 minutes in which the tackles belied any notion that this was a friendly, a wonderful pass from Tom Cleverley sent Walcott through on goal cutting in from the right hand side. The Arsenal winger turned inside to create a better angle and scored between Allan McGregor and his near post to very briefly silence the Scottish support.

The half-time break saw the pre-ordained departure of Jack Wilshere, whilst on the night he, as with Wayne Rooney, looked a little rusty, there is no doubt that the future of England's midfield is in Wilshere's hands.

Four minutes into the second half and the Scots were roaring once more and with good reason. Kenny Miller, who at 34 years of age, now plies his trade in the MLS with the Vancouver Whitecaps, received the ball with his back to goal on the edge of the box with Gary Cahill for close company. A dummy to his right and a turn to the left opened a yard of space and a crisp shot into the bottom corner gave Hart no chance.

The Scots joy was to last just four minutes. A Steven Gerrard free kick cleared the head of Russell Martin but found Wellbeck, who scored with a firm header into the bottom corner.

When Kyle Walker hacked down James Forrest, a minor fracas ensued, just to emphasise the "this is no friendly" point.

With the clock on 67 minutes, three minutes of a Roy of the Rovers storyline were created. Ricky Lambert, the journeyman striker that had once put the lids on jars of beetroot before leading the line at Macclesfield, Stockport County, Rochdale and Bristol Rovers, was given his first England appearance at the expense of Rooney. Two minutes later, with his first touch in international football, he rose the highest to meet a Leighton Baines corner and thunder a header into the net. Among previous scoring debutants, Nat Lofthouse would have been proud of the bullet header, but even the Lion of Vienna took longer than a couple of minutes.

Scotland were now broken on the field, substitutions led to them losing their shape, but whilst they now struggled to contain England, Flower of Scotland still reverberated around the stadium.

Lambert went on to waste a couple of chances in the closing minutes to prove that Roy of the Rovers stories really do belong in a comic book, hitting the post and tamely shooting straight at McGregor.

But the night belonged to Lambert, England took the spoils, but most of all this grand old fixture was the winner. This game brought back some memories that I didn't particularly want to revisit, but replaced them with a game to put alongside the Euro 96 fixture and place the unlikely character of Ricky Lambert alongside that of Paul Gascoigne.

A return fixture at Hampden Park? Bring it on!

England 1 Republic of Ireland 1

Match 74/12/1027 - Wednesday, 29th May 2013 - International

England (1) 1 Lampard 23
Republic of Ireland (1) 1 Long 13
Att. 80,126

Entrance: £30
Programme: £6
Mileage: 100/6,034

Match Report

This was a pointless exercise on every conceivable level. It was of no value, whatever the England manager might say, to Roy Hodgson and as a humble punter it was both a waste of time and money. If the Football Association thought that playing this fixture three weeks beyond the end of a long season, with no tournament football to grace the summer, an ideal way of both celebrating their 150th anniversary and also putting the dark spectre of the 1993 riot in Dublin behind them then they were seriously deluded.

Wembley has long since lost its shine with this punter. The hideous incident when Wales were the visitors has left its scar and from the moment I reach my seat I’m glancing at the people around me looking for the character that is going to be trouble and for this match against the Republic of Ireland the potential was almost inevitable. Ten minutes before the kick off the vacant seat alongside me was filled and straight away the radar said that this was going to be an uncomfortable 90 minutes and as soon as No Surrender was entered into God Save The Queen my worst fears were confirmed.

The FA’s David Bernstein praised the England fans for their good behaviour and in general I’m sure this was the case, but Mr Bernstein might want to give up his posh seat in the Royal Box to come and sit in the stalls with Joe Public and see what really goes on at Wembley. Perhaps the Scotland game might be a good day for him to conduct his awakening.

After 13 minutes in which the Irish largely dominated a long cross into the box found Shane Long who managed to get between the English central defenders to plant a firm header past Joe Hart. With so many Irish people living in England, and London in particular, it was inevitable that their support would be anywhere and everywhere in the stadium and the few that were around us showed their delight at their opening goal. My neighbour’s face contorted with rage, why have these aliens from another galaxy entered into his space, albeit that the nearest was a few hundred seats away. He was out of his seat, the verbal diarrhoea that he spouted showed blatant disregard for the women and children in his vicinity. This was it; this is what it’s like sitting in the cheap seats at just about every England game at Wembley.

When England are thrashing the might of San Marino or Andorra then the mindless morons are plunged into a stupor with the boredom of it all, unless the drink has already done the job. This is when Wembley becomes comfortable, put a competitive match in front of them, with an element of away support then it is a nightmare. The forthcoming Scotland match may have the potential for trouble but the qualifier against Poland almost doesn’t bear thinking about.

As fighting commenced in the aisles and the stewards did their best to contain it, Frank Lampard equalised within ten minutes and from that point my friend alongside indulged in nothing worse than the rest of us were doing, moaning about England. That’s the other feature of the England Wembley experience; the home side are not very interesting. They gave the ball away with reckless abandon and are as creative as a two-year old with a paintbrush.

Both sides huffed and puffed their way through a dour second half with the odd chance coming for both, but this was a game too far for everybody, the swim suits were packed and there is a sunbed waiting in an exotic location for our pampered few in the new white shirts that look far too similar to those worn by the Germans in the 1966 World Cup Final.

I wish I had signed off with the high of Tunbridge Wells’ Wembley visit instead of sullying this wonderful season among the dross that do their level best to ruin the reputation of the real England supporters.

England 2 Brazil 1

Match 50/12/1003 - Wednesday, 6 February 2013 - International

England (1) 2 Rooney 26, Lampard 60
Brazil (0) 1 Fred 48
Att. 87,483

Entrance: £30
Programme: £6.00
Mileage: 100/3,818

Match Report

For once, it was nice to walk away from Wembley feeling that, from the game, I had had my thirty quids worth and not only from the satisfaction of a fine England victory over the most celebrated of visitors.

This Brazil are no vintage, but they counter-attacked with speed and precision only to finish wastefully in front of goal, no more so than the superstar of the future, Neymar.

As England produced their best performance at Wembley since the demolition of Croatia in 2009 the crowd responded producing the best atmosphere heard for a very long time.

Whilst Chelsea's Oscar weaved a little magic in midfield for the South Americans, one Englishman was not to be outshone, the outstanding Jack Wilshere.

The evening had begun with a warm reception for one of England's unloved, Ashley Cole, on the achievement of his 100th cap but then was sullied by the brain-dead that chose to break the silence in respect of the victims of the Santa Maria nightclub fire, remembering the Munich air disaster and most disappointingly, the memory of Bobby Moore who died 20 years ago this month.

Both sides showed their attacking intentions from the outset with Julio Cesar producing the first save of note when he tipped over the bar a Wayne Rooney header after 10 minutes. On 18 minutes Brazil where awarded a penalty for a questionable handball by Wilshere. Ronaldinho, also making his 100th appearance, saw his initial spot kick and the follow-up saved by Joe Hart before Tom Cleverley steered the ball to safety.

Rooney opened the scoring on 26 minutes following a superb through ball from Wilshere to Theo Walcott, whose shot was saved by Cesar only to fall to Rooney who drove the ball into the empty net from about 15 yards.

Neymar should have equalised before the break when he failed to get on the end of a cross by Oscar, who had got past his Chelsea teammate Cole to get to the bye-line.

The Brazilians were level within three minutes of the start of the second half, not through stunning samba-football, although Fred’s finish was pretty emphatic, but a mistake from Gary Cahill, who had a decent first half alongside Chris Smalling reducing the threat of Adriano to nothing. Cahill attempted to dribble the ball to safety after a Brazilian attack broke down but was caught in possession by Lucas and Fred finished from the edge of the box with a powerful shot. It almost got instantly worse for England when a Smalling mistake allowed Fred another effort that clipped the bar.

Credit to England in that they bounced straight back and Cahill was close to making amends with a header that was saved by Cesar before Frank Lampard restored the home nation’s lead on the hour with a shot that went in off the post. Lampard, as he has done for much of this season, giving a gentle nudge to the Chelsea owner that he is a long way from the knacker’s yard.

The game continued its entertaining path to the finish and, albeit the friendly nature of game, a first win over Brazil in 23 years. A very satisfying evening, why can’t it be like this every time at Wembley?

England 5 San Marino 0

Match 25/12/978 - Friday, 12 October 2012 - World Cup Qualifying

England (2) 5 Rooney 35 (pen), 69 Welbeck 38, 71 Oxlade-Chamberlain 77
San Marino (0) 0
Att. 85,654

Entrance: £20
Programme: £6
Mileage: 155/1,717

Match Report

After 30 minutes of huffing and puffing, England put the minnows of San Marino, officially one of the three worst teams in the world, in their place. By the finish, five goals had been scored from a total of 33 efforts on goal against just one, hopelessly wide, effort from the Sammarinese. If the referee had taken the correct course of action for what amounted to common assault on Theo Walcott by the visiting goalkeeper after just three minutes, then, in all probability, England would have chalked up a cricket score. Which begs the question, why are these one-sided games necessary? The answer is, of course, because FIFA want to offer the same opportunity to the Turks and Caicos Islands as they do to Brazil, but in these times when international football is so beholden to the major clubs, can this approach continue to be justified.

In the cricket world cup, the Cayman Islands and Nepal have a route to the Finals but are not asked to pit themselves against Australia or South Africa in the opening rounds. Likewise, in tennis’ Davis Cup, despite the presence of Andy Murray in their ranks, Great Britain has not the necessary strength to be matched against Spain or the United States.

In these days when it is club football that calls the tune, a pre-qualifying tournament for countries with a low ranking would reduce the group sizes by a least one and cut two meaningless fixtures from the crowded calendar. It could be contended that, by playing nations of comparable strength in competitive fixtures, the opportunity for confidence building victories are of greater benefit than humiliating defeats at the hands of the major powers. Referring back to the cricket world cup, Afghanistan is a perfect example of what can be achieved through a qualification event.

The FA’s marketing team did a job akin to that of selling ice to eskimoes to get nearly 86,000 through the turnstiles on Friday evening. They recognised that San Marino was going to be their hardest sell during this qualifying group, they slashed ticket prices, we paid £20 each for a ticket on the half-way line, and their initiative was rewarded with a sell-out crowd.

San Marino arrived at Wembley, famous only for Davide Gualtieri’s goal against England back in 1993, scored in record time of 8 seconds. Since their entry into World Cup football in 1990 they have never won a game, scored only 14 goals and conceded 463, even against a less than highly regarded England team this was a complete mismatch.

As for the game itself, England took a while to get into their stride following the horrific challenge on Walcott who was literally wiped out by the goalkeeper having lifted the ball over him. That the referee failed to award a penalty and red card to the offender is no justification for the challenge. Despite having made some fine saves in the intervening period, there was a sense of justice when England finally made their breakthrough on 35 minutes when Simoncini once more made an ill-judged excursion from his goal line to plunge at the feet of Danny Welbeck, catching his trailing leg. This time the referee awarded the penalty, yellow carded the keeper and Wayne Rooney confidently dispatched the kick. Barely two minutes had elapsed before Aaron Lennon got to the bye line and pulled back a cross for Welbeck to repeat his trick from the Sweden World Cup tie to back heel the ball into the net.

The one-way traffic was obviously going to be the continuing storyline of the second half and once again it took some while to break down the minnows 10 man defence and having finally managed it in the 69th minute, another goal came along two minutes later. Firstly, Rooney fastened onto a loose ball after Lennon had run across the face of the goal, to score from the edge of the box and then Welbeck converted Tom Cleverley’s cross. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain curled in from outside of the box with an exquisite finish to complete the expected rout.

San Marino came to London and did all they could. They put a complete set of bodies behind the ball at all times, they possessed a goalkeeper that at times was inspired and at others utterly useless, but Simoncini’s assault of Walcott apart, they played the game within the rules, unlike another minnow that visited Wembley, Andorra, who came and cynically kicked lumps out of their hosts. Andorra are another good reason for pre-qualifying, why should the likes of Arsenal be deprived of a player for whatever time because an opposition’s only form of defence is cynicism.

At the end of the evening, England won 5-0, there were a couple of eye-catching performances that are cheapened by the lack of opposition and the only real satisfaction that could be taken from the game was that it only cost twenty quid.

England 1 Ukraine 1

Match 18/12/971 - Tuesday, 11 September 2012 - World Cup Qualifying

England (1) 1 Lampard 87 (pen)
Ukraine (1) 1 Konoplienka 38
Att. 68,102

Entrance: £55
Programme: £6
Mileage: 155/1,058

Match Report

The FA made an undisguised attempt to tap into the Olympic feel good factor with a programme cover that exclaimed “Let The Games Begin” and a parade of Olympians during the half-time break. In the days leading up to this World Cup Qualifier it was reported that only 55,000 tickets had been sold for a game that was always likely to be against England’s most dangerous opponent in the group. The final take-up was boosted to 68,102 with tickets being offered to the Olympic Games volunteers at discounted prices. Whilst it is obvious, from the flags that adorn Wembley, that many travel to Wembley from outside of the capital, I would guess that a substantial proportion of any Wembley attendance come from London and the South East and would also guess that last night’s lower than usual attendance is as much to do with a bit of post-Olympic belt tightening as it was England’s poor showing at Euro 2012.

After Friday’s 5-0 romp in the opening Qualifier in Moldova, a smooth ride to Rio may well have been envisaged, but Ukraine came to Wembley with an intention to avenge what they perceived as an injustice in Donetsk when England won by a Wayne Rooney goal after a goal of their own was ruled out when it had clearly crossed the line and they ultimately proved to be more than just a bump in the road.

England were forced to rely on a Frank Lampard penalty with three minutes remaining to salvage a point from a game that saw Steven Gerrard sent off for two bookable offences with an overly officious referee from Turkey, Cuneyt Cakir, taking centre stage. He brandished nine yellow cards in a game that was never fractious.

The Ukrainians posed a dangerous threat with the pace of Yevgeni Konoplienka and Andrij Yarmolenko proving a constant problem for a back line that looked uncomfortable without the presence of Scott Parker patrolling in front of them. The Turkish referee’s first intervention came after 11 minutes when Jermain Defoe fired past the Ukranian keeper from 20 yards only to have the goal chalked off for a mysterious offence. It transpired that the referee had determined that Defoe had executed a hand-off on Yarmolenko whilst engineering the space in which to shoot.

The visitors took full advantage of the let-off when, after 39 minutes, Konoplienka seized on a poor clearance from Joleon Lescott to thunder a shot high into the net from 25 yards for superb finish.

England created chances throughout the first half, but each one fell to Tom Cleverley and, pun intended, on the night he was none to clever.

Chasing the game in the second half, Roy Hodgson ended with a three-pronged attack with Danny Welbeck and Daniel Sturridge joining Defoe in attack. Welbeck struck a post with eight minutes remaining before a hand ball in the area under pressure from the Manchester United striker offered Lampard the opportunity to salvage the point from the spot.

The most rose-tinted of opinions could point to important players missing such as Rooney, John Terry and Parker. Gerrard was forced to play a very deep-lying role in the absence of the midfield holder thus nullifying his influence further up the field. Both of Gerrard bookings were contentious, the first of leading with an arm and the second for a tackle from behind. As his punishment is to miss the home game against San Marino it should not be particularly costly.

The Road to Rio may prove to be a bumpy one and as the Olympic spirit fades over the coming months the FA might need a bit more imaginative thinking than piggy-backing on another sport’s success to keep the Wembley turnstiles clicking. At £55 paid last night, ticket prices might be a good place to start.

England 1 Belgium 0

Match 66/11/953 - Saturday, 2 June 2012 - International

England (1) 1 Welbeck 36
Belgium (0) 0
Att. 85,091

Entrance: £25
Programme: £6.00
Mileage: 100/4,990

Match Report

Three months have passed since Fabio’s departure and Stuart Pearce’s night in the hot seat in the Wembley defeat against Holland. The FA took their time, resisted the overtures of the English press and a significant level of public support for another candidate, and decided that Roy Hodgson was the man to take England to the Euros and the 2014 World Cup beyond.

The appointment was initially greeted in a fairly lukewarm manner probably in the wake of the expectation that Harry Redknapp was a shoe-in for the job. People accepted that he was a good manager, but not a great one, and following his ill-fated time at Liverpool there was a doubt that he had the ability to motivate players at the highest level. He was a nice guy, but nice guys win nowt.

The Sun then entered the frame; with one of their infamous front pages they parodied Hodgson’s inability to pronounce his “r”s with a headline reading “Bwing on the Euwos”. Response from the public at large was disgust and in an instant Hodgson had the nation and much of the press behind him.

Hodgson’s first game against Norway brought England’s first victory in Oslo since Sir Alf in 1965 and it became clear that his intention was that England would be hard to beat first and foremost. His first home game brought a talented Belgium side to Wembley and the result and display confirmed the initial thoughts that this ain’t going to be pretty.

Injuries have already blighted the Euro campaign with midfielders Gareth Barry and Frank Lampard falling by the wayside and, with the benefit of writing this a day after the event, Gary Cahill’s freak injury following a shove by Belgium’s Dries Mertens that propelled him into a collision with Joe Hart resulting in a double fracture of the jaw means that the defender also misses the plane to Krakow.

If Roy has one distinct advantage going into this competition it is that of low expectation. In tournaments gone by the flags have been on the cars and out of the windows, on this occasion what flags are to be seen are in celebration of the Queen’s Jubilee.

One of the surprise choices in the Euro squad, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was given a start whilst Andy Carroll who might have done enough to convince Hodgson in Norway was rested in favour of Danny Welbeck.

The Belgians, who missed out in Euro qualifying, came to Wembley with a burgeoning reputation heightened by the appearance of Chelsea’s new £30-odd million capture, Eden Hazard. For much of the game Belgium enjoyed superiority in terms of possession with England content to allow their visitors to retain the ball forty yards from their goal but looking to use the pace of Welbeck and Ashley Young on the break.

Such was the case on 14 minutes when Welbeck set up Oxlade-Chamberlain with a chance that was wastefully blazed over the bar and he similarly pulled another opportunity wide following good work from James Milner. But the Arsenal starlet will enjoy a much greater degree of patience from supporters for his fearless running at defenders rather than Stuart Downing’s less eye-catching style.

On 36 minutes, against the run of play, England took the lead with a masterful finish from Welbeck. Sent through on goal by an exquisite Young pass, Welbeck executed a perfect chip over the onrushing Simon Mignolet and into the net. The half continued in the same vein with Belgium retaining possession of the ball, with Hazard central to almost everything, but not looking remotely likely to worry Hart any time soon.

Early in the second half, Welbeck was rested to the bench to allow Wayne Rooney to stretch his legs, Jermain Defoe was a lively introduction for Young and Theo Walcott replaced his Arsenal teammate Oxlade-Chamberlain. With the Belgians also making changes, the game opened up slightly with Defoe hitting a post and full back Guillaume Gillet doing similarly for the Belgians.

So Roy goes to the Ukraine on the back of two single goal victories without a great deal of style, but if we were to win six games at the tournament in the same fashion we would be European Champions, and if Chelsea can park the bus at club level to attain that title, why not England. That is highly unlikely to happen and to improve their chances England must exercise much better retention of the ball, far too often against Belgium after patiently allowing the opposition the ball for long periods, once they regained it, they promptly gave it away again. There is, of course, the problem that the first two games have to be negotiated without Rooney. Carroll did his cause no harm in Norway and Welbeck staked his claim in this game, whilst Defoe also gave Hodgson a timely reminder that on his day he can be sharp as a tack.

Hodgson takes his Three Lions to the Euros with not so much the hopes, but with the best wishes of the nation. In our dreams, in a month’s time, the Sun will be running the headline with no parody; Roy’s only gone and won it!

For my own records last season's figures end up as:
Lifetime matches total: 2,202
Number of grounds: 249

England 2 Holland 3

Match 50/11/937 - Wednesday, 29 February 2012 - International

England (0) 2 Cahill 85 Young 90
Holland (0) 3 Robben 57,90+3 Huntelaar 58
Att. 76,283

Entrance: £30
Programme: £6.00
Mileage: 100/3,908

Match Report

England moved into the time after Fabio Capello and, presumably, before Harry Redknapp with Stuart Pearce leading a relatively young England side into this largely one-sided friendly international against Holland. Capello, who had resigned in the wake of the row surrounding John Terry’s removal from the captaincy following alleged racial comments towards Anton Ferdinand, has left England in a void in the run-up to this summer’s European Championship.
Pearce was asked to step into the breach and chose Scott Parker to captain the side and shorn of strikers, Danny Welbeck and Steven Gerrard were initially chosen to spearhead the attack. Gerrard was only to last half-an-hour before being replaced by Daniel Sturridge, making it an even more youthful front line.

In the week previous, an agreement between European clubs and their governing body was struck whereby the number of international dates will be cut from 12 to nine, in effect this will end the mid-season friendly matches that cause so much consternation from the top club managers and stupor that was induced by the first half of this match would have had the paying public nodding their heads, or nodding off, in agreement.

So slow was the play, and the Dutch were more guilty than the home nation, that at one point I thought the game had been brought to a halt by the referee for a free kick, in fact he hadn’t, it was just that nobody on the field was actually moving!

At least the second half brought goals and a virtuoso performance from Arjen Robben, to give the 76,000 crowd some value for their money. Robben picked up a loose ball inside his own half on 57 minutes, he ran 40 yards in open space before a clever off-the-ball run from Klass Jan Huntelaar dragged Chris Smalling and Gary Cahill away, leaving Robben to power into the box and finish with aplomb past Joe Hart.

The game was seemingly over as a contest a minute later when Dirk Kuyt crossed for Huntelaar to head home. A sickening clash of heads with Smalling was encountered in the process of scoring and both players were forced from the pitch after a long stoppage, Smalling appeared unconscious with a gaping cut to the head, whilst Huntelaar suffered a loss of teeth.

Holland took their foot off the pedal again with their two goal lead and, as a result, England were allowed to fight their way back into the game. Sturridge should have scored before a through ball found the unlikely figure of Cahill who angled a shot into the far corner to reduce the deficit. Ashley Young then expertly lifted the ball over the diving body of Dutch keeper, Maarten Stekenlenburg from an incisive pass by his Manchester United teammate Phil Jones to draw the host’s level.

But the final word went to Robben, who curled in a shot from inside the area that took a deflection off Cahill’s shoulder to wrong foot Hart and deny England a draw that would have been flattering to say the least.

Let’s not forget the youthful nature of the England side against world top three opposition. There were encouraging performances from Sturridge, Adam Johnson for the hour that he was on the pitch, Welbeck and a typical hard working performance from Captain Parker.

The English FA cannot be seen to give up this summer’s championship as a lost cause, but we all know that just getting out of the group is going to be an achievement. Recent success at the younger levels have shown that there is talent coming through to replace the failed golden generation, I hope that the youngsters that featured in Stuart Pearce’s interim side, are allowed to experience a senior tournament under Capello’s successor and maybe the future will be brighter than this result may suggest.

England 1 Wales 0

Match 15/11/902 - Tuesday, 6 September 2011 - Euro 2012 Qualifying

England (1) 1 Young 35
Wales (0) 0
Att. 77,128

Entrance: £40
Programme: £6.00
Mileage: 100/1,043

Match Report

This has been a difficult time on a personal front following England. My dear friend, John Gilmour, travelling companion to away games with the national team for the past eight years, suffered a heart attack and died on 24 July, he was just 54.

John was everything you would want from a football supporter, intensely loyal, he hardly ever missed a game and a man with the correct sense of values towards his fellow human beings, something that I failed to observe at Wembley on Tuesday night. In fact the happenings of the evening besmirched the memory of that fine man.

I’m not going into the incident, just to say that it shook me to the core. On the way home we heard of the Wales supporter that was killed outside Wembley and it reinforced my opinion that, at this level, football is just not worth the risk.

A visit to Wembley for an England international has long since lost its shine. They are always blighted by drunken behaviour but this has only ever affected us on the periphery; we’ve witnessed acts of thuggery but once again it has not directly involved us, Tuesday night was different.

At present I never want to go to an England game ever again. My first international was with my Dad prior to the 1962 World Cup in Chile against Mexico (an 8-0 victory) when midweek games were played in the afternoon as Wembley had no floodlights. Almost 50 years that has taken in the high of Bobby Moore lifting the World Cup to the Wally with the Brolly, time that will be left behind because of the actions of a thug.

As for the game, Ashley Young scored, Robert Earnshaw missed and England put more than one foot into the door of Euro 2012 and I couldn't care less.

RIP John Gilmour.

England 2 Switzerland 2

Match 69/10/887 - Saturday, 4 June 2011 - European Qualifier

England (1) 2 Lampard 37 (pen), Young 51
Switzerland (2) 2 Bernetta 32, 35
Att. 84,459

Entrance: £50
Programme: £6
Mileage: 100/9,796

Match Report

It was a month ago that Tonbridge sealed their elevation to Blue Square South and Gillingham’s season ended in defeat at Chesterfield and perhaps that is why this important European Championship qualifier seemed lost in the middle of Summer.

Jack Wilshere’s claim of being too tired to play for the Under-21s in European Finals tournament in Denmark was scoffed at, but I similarly was suffering from a lack of interest at the end of a long season. This match sort of crept up on us, so much so that, on the way to Wembley, I had no idea whether Matt Jarvis was in the squad or not . . . he wasn’t.

It was a little over four years ago that Wembley opened its doors for the first time with a visit from Brazil and still the new stadium factor sells out games. It cannot be anything other than that because England as a football team continues to frustrate and annoy. Following the game there was chaos on the Tube as the Jubilee Line was partially suspended so an uncomfortable journey back to Charing Cross added to the disappointment of the result and the performance of the national side, certainly leaving questions about the worthiness of a £50 ticket and all the associated costs that go with a Wembley visit.

Taking a positive from the match, England managed to retrieve a two goal deficit and really should have won the match had it not been for a woeful miss from Darren Bent, but that is where it stopped. After a tedious first half-hour, in which Joe Hart was forced into a couple of saves, the game sprang to life in the wrong fashion for the hosts. Tranquillo Barnetta scored twice in the space of three minutes with Hart at fault for both of the goals. An inswinging free kick from the left, 20 yards out, evaded everybody in the six yard box and Hart was unable to react as the ball cleared Rio Ferdinand’s head. Three minutes later from a more acute angle, Barnetta drove the ball towards the near post, James Milner broke from his position in the wall and the surprised Hart could only claw at the ball when it was already over the line. They were calamitous errors for which the likes of Robert Green and Scott Carson have been hounded out of the England team in the past.

The prospect of the loss of vital points awoke the England support, although it was mainly in a negative fashion and directed at Fabio Capello. Fortunately a Frank Lampard penalty within five minutes got the fans back behind the side. Jack Wilshere, belying his tiredness, showed nimble feet as he skipped past a couple of Swiss defenders before being brought down to earn the penalty.

Ashley Young was brought into the action at the start of the second half and his livewire display was to eventually earn him the man of the match award (for 45 minutes?). After six minutes of the half, Milner chipped a cross into the box; Leighton Baines used his chest to direct the ball back to Young, who scored with a well placed volley.

With most of the second half remaining it could be forgiven to make the assumption that England would go on to find a winner and so they should have done, but Bent produced a couple of misses that endorsed the opinion of many that, despite his good scoring record in the Premiership, he is not an international striker. Sent through on goal by a sublime Wilshire pass, Bent was one-on-one with the keeper who was able to smother his shot.

Worse was to follow, an Ashley Young shot from the corner of the penalty area was only parried into the path of Bent by Benaglio but with the goal at his mercy the wayward striker sent the ball skywards clearing the bar by some distance. As Harry Redknapp would say, it was a chance his missus would have put away.

The Swiss could have won it in the final minute with a shot the edged past the post and similarly with virtually the final kick, Stewart Downing shot into the side netting.

So, the curtain comes down on season 2010-11, in five weeks time Pre-Season begins and the long trudge through to Euro 2012, almost a year to the day, starts at Ashford United.

England 1 Ghana 1

Match 60/10/878 - Tuesday, 29 March 2011 - International

England (1) 1 Carroll 43
Ghana (0) 1 Gyan 90
Att. 80,102

Entrance: £20
Programme: £6
Mileage: 100/9,058

Match Report

This was Ghana’s night. Their huge following made it the most atmospheric night at Wembley since it opened and a last minute goal from Asamoah Gyan gave the Africans a deserved draw.

The Ghanaians had felt slighted that Fabio Capello had allowed several of his side that appeared at the Millennium on Saturday to return home in favour of taking a look at some of the fringe players in his squad that included ex-Gillingham favourite Matt Jarvis, in the squad for the first time.

We travelled to Wembley with no great expectations but were treated to a highly entertaining game that was adorned with the noise and colour of the mass of Ghanaians that could easily have totalled 30,000.

After an early scare leaving Joe Hart to make a stop with his legs, several chances fell to England who were dominating proceedings. Ashley Young hit the bar from a couple of yards and Stewart Downing missed as the game ebbed and flowed with neither side closing the game down. Ghana were especially loose in defence and eventually England managed to take the lead just prior to the break and it was a first goal in an England shirt for Andy Carroll. A heavy touch from Downing was fortunate to roll into the path of the Liverpool striker whose first time shot from 15 yards rifled into the bottom corner.


The second half saw Ghana dominating proceedings but it took until the time added on before Gyan picked his way past the pedestrian Joleon Lescott to fire past Hart to the delight of the Black Stars fantastic support.



Midway through the half, attention switched from the pitch to the benches as Matt Jarvis was spotted pulling on his England shirt for his debut appearance for the Three Lions. It was a proud moment for Gillingham fans in the crowd, in truth in his 25 minutes on the pitch he was unable to make a significant impression on the game, but his Wolves form has been outstanding and he should have further opportunities.