England will play their Euro warm-up fixtures at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium – and fans could be there to see them.
Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate returns to his old club to face Austria on Wednesday, June 2, and Romania on Sunday, June 6, in the two friendlies ahead of this summer’s tournament.
There is also a hope that fans will be able to see the games and give the players the traditional good luck send-off as England begin their Euros campaign against Croatia on June 13 with Group matches against Scotland and Czech Republic on June 18 and 22 respectively..
Football Association chiefs are already hopeful that fans will be allowed into the FA Cup final after a pilot event for the Leicester v Southampton semi final at Wembley later this month.
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They are building up towards having fans at Euros fixtures at Wembley and, even though they have yet to confirm full details on fans, there could be limited numbers allowed at the Riverside.
The FA said: “The FA will continue to liaise with relevant authorities and explore the possibility of supporters being in attendance.”
(Image: The FA via Getty Images)
Southgate has played and managed Middlesbrough during his career and it will be an emotional return for the England manager ahead of a “homecoming tournament.”
England have to play the friendlies “on the road” as UEFA will have already taken ownership of Wembley as a tournament venue but Southgate is a big believer in going on the road to get the support of the nation behind his players.
England have played at the Riverside in the past, beating Slovakia in June 2003 in a Euro 2004 qualifier while they have also played in Manchester, Sunderland, Leeds, Leicester and Southampton in the recent past.
Both games will be shown live on ITV, England will then use St George’s Park as their basecamp for the Euros while information on tickets will follow depending on the FA getting the green light.
They will base themselves at just one stadium in the North East to make it easier to form a Covid secure bubble.
