Adrian Bevington says work needed to change culture of England supporters overseas

Former Football Association executive Adrian Bevington says there needs to be culture change among England fans after more incidents soured the friendly against Germany.

The FA have already condemned chanting that came from sections of the crowd in Dortmund on Wednesday, with chairman Greg Clarke saying on Thursday that some of the behaviour was "inappropriate, disrespectful and disappointing".

England were beaten 1-0 at the Westfalenstadion, but some fans booed the German national anthem before the game, while "vile" chants and gestures continued through the match.

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The behaviour was also condemned by the Football Supporters' Federation, while the FA will liaise with the UK Football Policing Unit to see if it is possible to identify members of the England Supporters Travel Club who might have been involved.

But Bevington, who was Club England Managing Director from 2010 to 2015, believes the issue runs deeper.

He told Sky Sports News HQ: "It's a collective effort. I don't think you can put this firmly at the door of the FA.

There is an education process here, and that's where the fans groups themselves can help educate one another, and then it becomes self-policing which we see in other nations.

"They have done a great deal of work over the last 20 years to try and address issues, particularly around disorder. A great deal of planning and expense goes into every fixture. It's a collective effort with the Football Supporters Federation, with the Home Office, the police, but ultimately what is needed here is a cultural change.

"We cannot have the type of chanting that was going on in the stadium on Wednesday night. It's embarrassing and it's insulting to the host nation. We're talking about wars that happened so many generations ago, it just doesn't have a place in football society."

Banning orders are among the punishments possible for fans found guilty of disorder but Bevington feels education could be far more effective in the long-term.

He added: "I'm not saying you shouldn't use banning orders, particularly if people are nasty towards each other, for me that is something that should lead to a banning order.

"There is an education process here, and that's where the fans groups themselves can help educate one another, and then it becomes self-policing which we see in other nations.

"I saw a lot of it in France at the European Championships where the Welsh and Irish fans went there and had a party.

"Their fans get behind the team in different ways, and there seems to be a lot more humour, while we focus so much on eradicating disorder and violence we've got to a point where we now need to eradicate this jingoism, find a new repertoire and it would be nice to see a great demographic amongst the travelling fans."

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