A GUIDEBOOK sponsored by the Government for England fans at the World Cup this summer includes advice on where to find Nazi monuments and suggests German phrases for insulting the referee.

The Free Lions England Fans’ Guide to Germany 2006, which went on show at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London yesterday, is part of a strategy to bring the best out of England’s notorious supporters in Germany.

It offers light-hearted tips on where to eat, sleep and drink in each city hosting matches. Interesting cultural destinations such as the Chocolate Museum in Cologne, where England play Sweden on June 20, are highlighted in the hope that fans will pay them as much attention as more sensitive sites, such as the Nazi parade ground in Nuremberg, where England play Trinidad and Tobago five days earlier.

Vast numbers of England fans will travel to Germany and they are expected to outnumber all but the home support. Lord Tiresman, the Foreign Office Minister and a Tottenham Hotspur fan, said yesterday that if the team qualify for the knock-out stages up to 100,000 England supporters are expected to descend on each city hosting their remaining matches.

A fleet of Ford Transit vans restyled as Fans’ Embassies and staffed by volunteers from the Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF) will be available to provide on-the-spot advice for fans during the competition. Updated information on everything from extra tickets to traffic jams near the stadiums will be available on the website www.footballsupportersinternational.com and by text message alerts. The Nationwide Building Society, sponsoring the vans, is also distributing 100,000 free copies of the guidebook.

For fans lucky enough to have tickets to any of England’s games, the “Useful German Phrases” section at the back of the book explains how to say “Ref, we know where your car is” (Schiri, wir wissen wo dein auto steht) and “The linesman needs some glasses” (Der linienrichter braucht’ne brille).

The guide also addresses the spectre of unpleasant behaviour involving English fans and specifically the problem of anti-German sentiment among a hard core of supporters.

In an introductory letter to the fans, Sven-Göran Eriksson, the England manager, writes: “This rivalry [with Germany] must not be allowed to go beyond decent behaviour.

“I’d particularly like to call on you to avoid any anti-German singing and chanting during the World Cup. The song which we really don’t want to hear is the one about ‘Ten German bombers’.” The unsavoury chant, which celebrates the RAF’s success in shooting down Luftwaffe planes during the Second World War, was widely sung by England fans during the Euro 2004 tournament in Portugal. A later chapter in the booklet, written by the Home Office, emphasises the improved behaviour by English fans in recent years.

Banning orders will keep more than 3,000 known hooligans at home. Since they were introduced five years ago the reputation of England fans at international tournaments has improved dramatically.

Kevin Miles, the FSF’s international co-ordinator, said yesterday that Euro 2000 had proved England fans responded better to the tolerant policing methods of the Dutch than to the more hardline approach by the Belgians. He said that England fans had since gained a reputation for being “party animals instead of animals”.

The booklet also offers advice on where to find the cheapest pubs: “You are never more than a short stroll (or stumble) from the nearest bar.”

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Science News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• An officer and a gentle woman
• Dame Helen Mirren is worthy of the Epidaurus
• Foods that can help to prevent swine flu