England fans 'will back the team'

12 April 2012

England fans' spokesman Mark Perryman insists the nation's supporters will show their backing for the national team against Croatia at Wembley on Wednesday night - because they just want the team to qualify for the Euro 2008 competition.

England were given a lifeline by Israel's victory over Russia on Saturday and a draw would be good enough for Steve McClaren's side to qualify for next summer's tournament.

But Perryman, who will lead the fans into battle on the pitch against their Croatian counterparts on the eve of the game, said: "You've got to understand England fans have had 41 years of disappointment. It doesn't matter to us who is the manager or what players are on the pitch, we just want England to win."

He added: "The vast majority of England fans want England to win on Wednesday, not just draw. We are not doing well at the moment but if we can get through on Wednesday night then we have got six to nine months to get it right.

"But there are other countries like France and Spain who have not found it easy either. I think Steve knows there was not a lot of excitement surrounding him from when he was appointed but generally the fans have been behind the manager."

Perryman also points out that despite the views held by pundits, the group was not an easy one for McClaren's men.

Perryman added: "It was not such an easy group. It was a much tougher group than people give it credit for. Russia went to Israel and lost, Croatia went to Macedonia and lost, yet England went to Israel and drew and beat Macedonia away."

Meanwhile Perryman will be hoping to draw first blood for England when their fans take on the Croatians at Stonebridge Recreation Ground in London on Tuesday evening.

From Skopje to Tallin on this qualifying campaign England supporters have played a friendly on every trip - Tuesday night is the final fan's match with the same Croatian fans who hosted the game in Zagreb.

Perryman explained: "Off the pitch England fans have been busy building our reputation as friendly fans, and what better way to meet the away fans and play a game of football. Complete with anthems, VIP handshakes, match pennants this is our chance to play for our country, with bags and bags of pride."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in