Two-thirds of England fans expected to attend rescheduled match in Poland

England fans at the National Stadium (GETTY IMAGES)

England fans' spokesman Mark Perryman expects up to two thirds of the 2,500 supporters who travelled to Poland for the World Cup qualifier to attend the rescheduled game this afternoon.

Perryman also insists fans will not be overly hit in the pocket by the 20-hour delay in the fixture because of the cheap nature of the Polish economy.

The game was postponed last night because of a waterlogged pitch, and Poland were keen for the game to be rescheduled in November, but England wanted to play the match as quickly as possible.

Perryman, from the London England Fans' group, said: "I expect there will be between half and two thirds of the England fans who travelled out for the game to be there this afternoon.

"A lot of fans I've spoken to have booked to come out on Monday and go back on Thursday anyway while a lot have Polish relatives over here.

"But in any case it will not cost the fans a lot of money for the extra day because Poland is a cheap place to get to, to stay at and to eat in - maybe an extra £150."

The game was eventually called off an hour after the scheduled 8pm (BST) kick off time with sections of the pitch flooded.

Perryman said: "The feeling was not of anger but of bemusement and no-one knew what was going on but I include the Poland fans in that as well. It wasn't anything against the England fans.

"The only good thing is that Cliff Richard didn't start conducting the singing in the rain like he did at Wimbledon!

"But can we have a sense of perspective after people have gone on about the roof not being closed?

"If there had been rain like that in England, there is not a single football stadium which has a roof to close."

PA