100,000 away!

"Cup's smallest venue braces itself for arrival of English hordes," gasps the Independent.

Germany's Ruhr mining town of Gelsenkirchen - home of the Schalke 04 football club with a population of 270,000 - will be swamped by more than 100,000 England fans for the World Cup quarter-final clash with Portugal.

Needless to say, in the wake of the customary FIFA ticketing fiasco that's marked this tournament, the vast majority of the travelling hordes won't actually be in the ground for the matches.

Instead, the boys and girls and their legion St George's crosses will be, ahem, taking in the local culture in the streets, parks and squares.

Speaking of said local culture, the Indy says "police have advised bar owners to serve drinks in plastic cups".

The sheer volume of England fans descending on Gelsenkirchen has prompted the local mayor to get into talks with the BBC about how best to screen the match for the supporters.

It's been suggested that the Beeb "screen the game at a viewing area accommodating up to 90,000 England fans as the current viewing park for fans holds only 30,000".

"Only 30,000" - we love that.

As ever, England's away support defies belief.