England fans flock to Moscow as their hosts roll out the red carpet
Supporters suggest Government misled them over the dangers of travelling to Russia
For many of them, it has been a last-minute decision, a resolution that was made among friends before the quarter-final that if England were triumphant against Sweden, then they had to seize what might be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get to Russia to watch their team.
In Red Square yesterday Neil Rowe, the British Airways pilot from Surrey who is best known as a Gareth Southgate lookalike and is now a minor celebrity in Moscow, had been spotted. Even so, among the football fans from around the world taking their pictures in front of Lenin’s mausoleum and Saint Basil’s Cathedral, there were still very few from England.
The Football Association believes there will be 10,000 England supporters at the semifinal at the Luzhniki Stadium tonight, more than any of their previous five games in Russia. Some will fly home on Thursday but many say that it will be hard for them to leave if Southgate’s team make it through to Sunday’s final. There is expected to be a big secondary market for tickets, especially those bought by South Americans in expectation of one of Brazil or Argentina making the final.
Many England supporters say they feel they have been misled by their own government and the media when it comes to perceptions of Russia and the dangers that it might pose to the average fan with a pint in his hand and a Cross of St George to hang up.
The memories of ruthlessly organised Russian fan violence in Marseille at Euro 2016 seem to have faded much quicker than expected, eclipsed, it seems, by the warmth of the welcome.
Gavin Shepherd, a 32-year-old engineer from London, was in Red Square with two friends. He
conceded that he broke off a holiday with his girlfriend when finally his friends persuaded him to come to Russia.
“Yes, I did have to drop her home on Thursday,” he said. “I had said that if we got through and I managed to get hold of tickets then I would be going. I guess I got caught up in the hype and my friends are good at persuading me.”
As with many others, he said that ordinarily it would have been impossible to get tickets for a semi-final of a World Cup so late in the day, but there has been availability – especially since Russia’s elimination by Croatia.
“I was put off by what I was reading and the political climate between our two countries is not exactly stable. Everything has been good so far though.”
David Torrens, 33, a trader from London, who was in Red Square having made the last-minute decision to come, said that Southgate’s players had changed the way he viewed the England team.
Previously, he had spent years following them home and away and then “fell out of love with it”.
“During the Iceland game, I fell asleep on my mate’s couch and when I woke up we were out,” he said. “I didn’t even feel that bothered. I knew we were poor. Now the players seem to care about the shirt.”
Many fans said that they had experienced kindness from Russians and had been asked by locals why so few English fans had made the trip.
“I have met nothing but helpful people,” said Nigel Mckenzie, 49, from Portsmouth, who works in construction. “People will get their phones out to check journeys and routes for you. I wasn’t worried about coming. I always felt that I would come out to the World Cup at some point. I was hoping we would make the quarter-finals.”
His friend Adam Wheatley, 33, a tree surgeon from Solihull, said that his wife was due to give birth “at any minute” and having been to Samara for the quarter-final against Sweden he felt that he should really be getting home after the Croatia semi-final. “Many Russian people have said to us, ‘Forget the politics’. It’s not about the two governments, it is about the ordinary people.”
Conspicuous in Red Square in a Nottingham Forest home shirt, Matt Jordan, 27, a finance worker from Nottingham, had been here longer than most.
He had come out for the second England group game against Panama in Nizhny Novgorod and has been to the three England games since.
He was going back after the semi-final and then returning for the last weekend.
“It has been so hospitable,” he said. “I was expecting to have to be on my guard, but it hasn’t been like that. It has been brilliant.
“Quite a lot of the Russians say they support England as well. They watch the Premier League and they ask you whether you support Chelsea. They want the English to come to Russia and most of them say, ‘Ignore the politics’.”
On Nikolskaya, off Red Square, was Chris Davis, 31, from Derby, retired from the military, who had travelled with his father-in-law, Wayne Claxton, 46, a greengrocer also from Derby.
They had spent £1,500 on two tickets and the flights had cost £410 each. Davis said the owner of their Moscow hotel was now wearing a white shirt and red tie in honour of his English guests.
“We’ve had drinks bought for us,” Davis said. “I am really glad that we came.”