England's Drab Win Underlines Need to Take Games Around the Grounds Again

WEMBLEY, LONDON—To put it succinctly, this was a poor game. There were many poor individual performances, a lot of poor decisions from the officials and a generally poor atmosphere around the stadium.

England scored five against San Marino. They probably should have scored at least eight considering the disparity between the two nations, and they would have scored six or seven if not for some dubious decision-making from the Polish referee Marcin Borski and his team of assistants.

All the while an official tally of 55,990 fans (a number presumably massaged by including all Club Wembley season ticket holders, even though only around half of them showed up) made what they could of the night. The Mexican wave started on the half-hour mark, the cheers anytime Joe Hart touched the ball soon after and the early exits for Wembley Central station right around the final goal in the game’s 77th minute.

“I was pleased that we won, that we got the job done,” England boss Roy Hodgson said afterwards, before paying tribute to those who had borne witness: “I thought the crowd were terrific throughout, their mood and their buoyancy and their determination to get some enjoyment from the game.”

It seemed an optimistic verdict. For nearly 25 agonising minutes England failed to break down San Marino, a country with a population smaller than the attendance on the night, to a certain amount of supporter angst.

Some dubious goalkeeping eventually allowed central defender Phil Jagielka to break the deadlock and from there, England were at least always certain of picking up the three points they needed in this foregone conclusion of a qualification group; Wayne Rooney (from the penalty spot), Danny Welbeck, substitute Andros Townsend and then a Alessandro Della Valle own goal (his second in as many games) rounding off the scoring.

It was an awkward night for seemingly everyone involved. San Marino’s players, fearful of a battering from the start, would literally turn around if they ever found themselves crossing the halfway line. The home players, expected to win by a huge margin, grew antsy around the opposition box, determined not to waste the opening by trying something ambitious that could be construed as wasteful.

It led to a disjointed game, and a hard one to watch.

“I thought they were better this year,” Hodgson noted of a team England beat 8-0 barely 18 months ago. “They are making strides forward, albeit as an amateur team it is going to take a while before they can beat the likes of us at Wembley. I hope so, at least.”

“I think we did well,” San Marino coach Pierangelo Manzaroli added. “It was no surprise to us that we could contain as well as we did.

“We hope to get a result from the rest of the qualification campaign. There are other teams where we can hopefully get an historic draw or even a more historic win.”

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This was always meant to be a drab evening, an inevitable combination of lowly opposition and continuing post-international tournament blues. But to host it at Wembley seemed to do nobody any real good.

What would the atmosphere have been like if the game had taken place at St James’ Park, for example, or even Anfield? The modern nature of the international schedule—almost all games in midweek, only a select few ever at the weekend—makes it virtually impossible for any children or families from outside the local area to go and watch their national side play. That inevitably leads to a certain amount of isolation.

Taking qualifiers around the country again, as they did when this undeniably fine stadium was being built (the last friendly coming against Spain at Old Trafford in 2007), would open up the team to a whole new section of the population, making even games against the most limited of opponents memorable for those in attendance.

Instead, on Thursday night Wembley was less than two-thirds full, with many in attendance either regular supporters somewhat intrigued against the novelty of watching Roy Hodgson’s men, or casual fans enticed along by the relatively low ticket prices. (Refreshments and souvenirs were still as expensive as ever, mind you.)

Of course, everyone realises that Wembley was an expensive stadium to build, and it has to be paid off—in much the same way Arsenal needed to adjust their economic approach in the aftermath of breaking ground on the Emirates Stadium.

The latest estimates seem to suggest that it will be nearly another decade before the books are balanced, although that could change if a London-based NFL franchise comes in and pays a significant tenancy fee (a possibility, if a slight one, from around 2017 onwards).

"Wembley has to be paid for,” as Adrian Bevington, the FA’s chief executive, wrote on Twitter. “The reality is that the FA has to put [an] events calendar on to do this. When [we are] debt free in 8/9 years, [we will have] more choice.”

Hastening that time frame would be good for all concerned. Taking international games back around the country has the potential to awaken enthusiasm in regions that have grown ever more apathetic than most to the England team, rebuilding the supporter base outside the Home Counties and everything that would come with that.

In the long run that could be every bit as lucrative for the FA as selling 60 percent of the tickets at the home of football (and mean more viewers start watching England games than The Great British Bake Off). The honour of playing at Wembley might be a big plus for visiting sides, but ultimately for them it is more about getting the chance to play England at all, rather than where the game takes place.

“[It was] an experience,” Manzaroli noted, when asked for the positives from the night. “The pleasure of playing in such a great stadium, in front of fantastic fans and against a big team.”

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For the players and coaches of the home team, it was a job done efficiently, if not spectacularly. For those in charge of the bigger picture, the logistics and the wider planning, it should have been a night of contemplation.

The nature of the new European Championship format means that there will likely be many more games like this over the coming years—games England have to negotiate against teams they would not lose to in 100 meetings. Next time they come up, it would be great to see them—and even the more competitive matches—held at some less familiar venues.

It would surely inject a much-needed excitement into proceedings—one description that no-one could use on this occasion. For some, it is already forgotten, the next match just days away.

“We’ve got our points from this game,” Hodgson concluded. “Now we can concentrate our attentions on the next game against Estonia. We’ve had very little preparation time.”