FA slams 'crazy' Cole boos

Football Association disappointed at criticism for England left-back

By James Dall   Last updated: 12th October 2008

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The Football Association has labelled the verbal criticism of Ashley Cole from a minority of England fans at Wembley on Saturday as 'crazy'.

Cole was victim of booing from sections of the crowd after his error allowed Kazakhstan to score what turned out to be nothing more than a consolation in England's 5-1 World Cup qualifier victory.

A number of Cole's England team-mates have since leapt to the defence of the full-back, while manager Fabio Capello admitted he 'could not understand' the criticism.

Chelsea defender Cole is not the first player to be on the receiving end of booing from supporters at Wembley after both Frank Lampard and David Bentley came in for similar treatment in the past.

Unfortunate

The FA believes the latest demonstration was 'unfair' and would only serve as being detrimental to a player and team's performance.

"It is crazy that a section of our own supporters are booing one of our own players," said FA director of communications Adrian Bevington.

"That is clearly not going to help the team during the course of a game, and certainly not the individual being booed.

"Unfortunately, we are all aware that we have had problems of this kind since we have come back to the new Wembley.

"That is why Fabio Capello stressed before the game we needed the crowd with us.

Atmosphere

"The supporters yesterday really got behind us for the vast majority of the game, and there was a great atmosphere during the first half in particular.

"Several players have said they were encouraged to see large numbers in the crowd applauding Ashley Cole to counter-balance those booing him.

"It is unfair on all the fans who have come to the game with the best intentions of supporting the team throughout."