It’s Not the Fans, It’s the Farce: How Overpriced Tickets and Pointless Friendlies Are Killing England’s Atmosphere

It’s Not the Fans, It’s the Farce: How Overpriced Tickets and Pointless Friendlies Are Killing England’s Atmosphere

After England’s emphatic 3-0 win against Wales in an international friendly last night, you would expect there to be a positive response.

Alas, football does not always work that way.

After the match finished, Thomas Tuchel led a tirade against none other than the England fans. "I love English football and I love English football fans and the support they give, but I think the atmosphere did not match the performance on the field.

"We had excellent support in Serbia, but (here) we were 3-0 up after 20 minutes, we had ball win after ball win after ball win and I felt like why is the roof still on the stadium? That's just it, it's nothing big.

"We had excellent support in Serbia, but (here) we were 3-0 up after 20 minutes, we had ball win after ball win after ball win and I felt like why is the roof still on the stadium? That's just it, it's nothing big.

"We will do everything again to be infectious, there's no problem. I'm sure we will get everyone going - it is on us. But tonight I was a little underwhelmed."

Thomas Tuchel expected more from England's fans at Wembley after his team scored three goals in the opening 20 minutes against Wales 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/Skil7bS82A

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) October 9, 2025

Tuchel does have every right to criticise fans if the atmosphere is not there, but not at a meaningless friendly against Wales.

It’s the kind of comment that sounds bold and honest until you think about it for more than five seconds. Yes, the second half was flat. Yes, the crowd was subdued. But blaming fans for not bouncing throughout a 90-minute match, which was nothing more than a glorified training session, feels like a misfire from the England boss.

Since taking over as England coach in January of this year, Tuchel has managed to get most of the fans on board. He has won six of his seven matches in charge—only losing a solitary match against Senegal—and his side has scored eight goals in their last two matches.

But comments like the one above will turn a nation against you. Very quickly.

Let’s start with the obvious: this was a friendly. A fixture wedged awkwardly into an already bloated calendar, offering little in terms of competitive tension or narrative. It was not a qualification match for the World Cup or European Championship; it was a meaningless game.

Despite England and Wales not having too much love lost between the two nations, they are geographically next to each other. A match between them should be a momentous occasion. Instead, it felt like a marketing exercise for the FA to pocket some more cash.

That is on the FA and FIFA. Between Nations League fixtures, endless qualifiers, and now commercially driven “global friendlies”, there’s barely a moment left that actually means something. When every international match is driven with the idea of it being a ‘big night’, nothing truly is.

All of this is not even taking the factor of cost into the equation.

Not only does a fan have to buy a ticket to the match (costing between £35 and £65), but they also have to factor in the cost to get to the stadium, the price of food and drinks they will need to have, and, as the match does not finish until 10:30 pm, a hotel may be in order.

Bring a family of three into this, and you could be looking at spending upwards of £500. All for a meaningless friendly.

Fans are not robots. They will not cheer when commanded to. These fans experience emotion, and if the team is not performing to their demands in a match, then the decibels will drop.

The blame lands with the organising bodies: UEFA, FIFA and the FA. Money-hungry organisations that are so obsessed with revenue and exposure that they have forgotten what makes football magic.

Nobody remembers a 3-0 win against Wales. I would be shocked if people even remembered a 5-0 win in a friendly match.

What fans remember is the walk up Olympic Way, taking in every speck of noise, smelling fresh burgers being cooked, mixed in with the scent of onions. They remember walking up the stairs to their seat with their loved ones or friends.

But these people cannot afford to pay hundreds of pounds monthly to watch a football game, which in all senses of the word is utterly pointless.

Forget the fans' needs, and the silence will just grow louder.

And it will not be their fault; it’ll be because, once again, those in charge of our beautiful game have forgotten who it’s supposed to be for.