A New Era?

So England played their first game on Wednesday against Norway since the disappointment of their early exit from this summer's World Cup. The media was persistent in their idea of this game hailing in "a new era" for the England national team. With many of its influential World Cup veterans having retired in the summer (Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard and more recently, Steven Gerrard), there was a lot of anticipation as to what this youthful side would bring. But even the curiosity regarding how this new-look England team would fair wasn't enough to encourage disgruntled England fans through the Wembley gates.

Wembley stadium half empty

With only 40,181 in attendance for the match, it was the smallest number to attend an England match at Wembley since it was re-built, with the top-tier being closed for the very first time. Of course it can be said that many factors contributed to the record low attendance- the calibre of the opposition, the steep prices of the tickets, and of course the fact that it was just a friendly match. But there is no doubt that the frustration of England's World Cup woes didn't help matters much either.

Rooney penalty v Norway

The match itself was somewhat underwhelming. Apart from a penalty scored by Wayne Rooney in the 68th minute, there wasn't really much to cheer about, with a lot of England's attacking moves fizzling out in the final third. Now England look forward to the Euro 2016 Qualifier game against Switzerland on Monday, a game that carries a lot more significance than the Norway friendly. It is a game that England should be looking to win, and with the Wembley attendance record at an all-time low and national morale quickly deteriorating, England will need to put on a fantastic performance culminating in a convincing win in order to increase national optimism. Anything less is a frightening prospect for the FA and the future of the national game.