Gareth Southgate has warned England fans that misbehaviour before a game has a negative effect on his camp’s preparations, amid concerns that the match against Germany in Munich on Tuesday could spark trouble.
The passports of 880 supporters with existing banning orders have already been confiscated ahead of the fixture and Southgate pleaded with those who travel to behave well.
An allocation of almost 3,500 for the Allianz Arena has been sold out but there are concerns that ticketless fans may also converge on the Bavarian city, as well as fears of added tension given Monday is the anniversary of D-Day. While there is no desire to reprimand anyone for events that may not take place, Southgate took the step of explaining that poor conduct can directly impact his team.
“It definitely has an impact,” he said. “It means staff are working on things detracting from the main part of their job. You are embarrassed when you hear about it, because you know it’s a representation of your country, in the same way there’s been a brilliant representation of that across the world in the last couple of days. So we’re always conscious of that. I think we can only give the correct messages, then you’ve got to rely on people behaving themselves.”
England’s first visit to Munich since 2001, when they famously won 5-1 at the old Olympic Stadium, will see alcohol banned inside the ground but there are not expected to be such restrictions in the city centre. The Football Association has already been hit by a two-game stadium ban, with one suspended, after the violence at the Euro 2020 final last July. That will be keenly felt next Saturday when England host Italy at Molineux in front of a small crowd composed mainly of children, and further problems could lead to more severe punishment. Southgate requested that the warning is heeded.
“I think we know, because of the landscape at the moment, that the spotlight is going to be on, so we want to be coming away talking about a brilliant night, good football and a stunning atmosphere,” he said.
“We don’t have any control over that, we can only ask that’s what our supporters deliver. We have supporters from all parts of the country who travel brilliantly, and leave foreign countries with a great feeling about England and English supporters.
“We know there have always been others that do it a different way, and that’s been the same for 40-odd years. We’ve still got to try to police that as well as we can, and make sure we keep stopping people from doing those things. That’s not easy to control, frankly.”
There are 1,122 banning orders in place for known troublemakers among the fanbase, including those who have been required to hand their passports in this time.
