England Set For Lowest Wembley Crowd

England's friendly against Norway next
week will be watched by the lowest
crowd for an international fixture at
the new Wembley.

After England's early World Cup exit in
Brazil, a gate of 35,000-40,000 is
expected at the game on Wednesday.

Football Association general secretary
Alex Horne said: "We have work to do.
We have to rebuild trust with fans."
The FA has announced England will
play friendlies against France, Spain,
Italy and Germany over the next two
years.
The average crowd for home England
internationals since the new Wembley
opened in 2007 is 79,000.
But the attendance is likely to be less
than half that number when Roy
Hodgson's team face Norway in their
first outing since exiting the World Cup
at the group stage without winning a
game.

England's last five home friendlies

30 May 2014, England 3 Peru 0
(83,578)
5 March 2014, England 1 Denmark 0
(68,573)
19 November 2013, England 0
Germany 1 (85,934)
15 November 2013, England 0 Chile 2
(62,693)
29 May 2013, England 1 Rep of
Ireland 1 (80,126)

Even Wayne Rooney's appointment as
England's new captain seems unlikely
to boost the gate.
"It will be the lowest crowd we have had
at Wembley and it is disappointing,"
admitted Horne.
"We have incredibly loyal supporters -
5,000 went to Brazil - and we are
working hard on what we can give
them to make them feel part of the
England experience."
The previous lowest crowd for an
international at Wembley was the
48,876 for a friendly against Sweden
in 2011.

In a bid to get more fans through the
gates, the FA has relaunched the
England Supporters' Club and finalised
home and away matches against
France, Spain, Italy and Germany.
These will be played alongside
England's Euro 2016 qualifying
campaign, which begins with a trip to
Switzerland on Monday, 8 September.

"It makes more sense to prepare for a
European tournament by playing the
bigger European countries, so we have
put less of an emphasis on non-
Europeans over the next two years,"
added Horne.