England 1966 legends brand internet experiment a "disgrace"

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Quote :: Bless this mouse and log on, log on, with hope in your hearts.

At around 4.45pm on Saturday, England fans will become the first wave of pay-per-view virgins to watch a World Cup qualifier on boadband at £11.99 a pop.

As Fabio Capello sends his team out in Dnepropetrovsk, the Ukrainian outpost which is even more unpronounceable than it is inaccessible, pioneers back home will be hitting the back of the internet.

A lucky few will watch the match at selected cinemas, just like the halcyon era of heavyweight title fights when the biggest late-night draws were rumbles in the jungle or thrillers in Manila.

And if resourceful landlords manage to beat the system by tapping into illicit feeds through adapted set-top boxes, customers will forgive even the tattiest pub if there are any controversial penalties to sustain their bar-stool conversation: It’s a bit of a dive, but at least the football’s on.

Originally, the game was due to be shown on Setanta Sports, the pay-TV broadcaster who went bust in the summer.

When mainstream channels tried to buy the live TV rights from the Ukrainian FA at a knock-down price, international agents Kentaro appointed digital sport specialists Perform to steam the match online as a pay-per-view event.

BBC and ITV are monitoring the subscription take-up avidly, and if sales are sluggish they could even make last-minute bids to show the highlights later tonight.

Before a mouse has been clicked, however, grumpy old men have lined up to denounce the practice of England internationals being shown only to cyber explorers who know their Google from their Yahoo.

The Boys of 1966 are not impressed, and last night Gordon Banks, Martin Peters and Nobby Stiles joined the vanguard demanding that Capello’s crusade should remain access all areas instead of a desktop marketing experiment.

Goalkeeping legend Banks branded the pay-per-view internet intrusion a “disgrace“ and chuntered: “For a start, I don’t know how to use the internet, so that’s me snookered anyway.

“But at a time when we are crying out for young players to step forward and form the next generation of England internationals, how are we going to produce them if they can’t even see their national team on TV?

“I will not be shelling out £11.99 of my money to watch England on a computer screen with a broadband feed, whatever that is. Pay-per-view is not the way forward for football. I think it’s disgraceful.”

Martin Peters, one of only two men to score in a World Cup final for England, was no more conciliatory, saying: “To be honest, it’s a pain in the backside.

“If you’re not there in person, the best way to watch England is on TV while sat in your favourite armchair, not hovering round a laptop or a computer screen.

“I know it was originally going to be shown on Setanta before they went bust, so there must be some way one of the main broadcasters could have picked it up and shown it.

“I’ve been lucky enough to attend lots of internationals at Wembley as a guest of the FA, and I’m always flattered by their hospitality. But now that England have qualified, I probably won’t be watching the game in the Ukraine.

“The internet is not really something which people in my age group understand, but even if I had a computer, I’m not sure all that faffing around would be worth it. The biggest interest in this game, for me, is whether Ukraine or Croatia qualify - but I’m not sure that’s worth £11.99.”

And Nobby Stiles, the midfielder who took his teeth out to win the Jules Rimet trophy 43 years ago, agreed: “I just think it’s a shame that most fans won’t be able to see it.

“I haven’t got a clue about logging on, so I won’t be watching. This is the England team we’re talking about... I just don’t understand it.”

The live broadcast starts half an hour before the 5.15pm kick-off, with former England manager Sven Goran Eriksson as studio pundit and David Pleat - stood down by ITV in the summer - summariser in Dnepropetrovsk beside commentator Tony Jones.

And as Capello goes for a perfect 10 wins out of 10 qualifying games, pay-per-view pioneers back home can only hope that tuning in will be as easy as falling off a login.

Has any other country done this... i just find it a fucking joke, but tbh it doesnt matter that much cause we already qualified, who in there right mind is gonna pay lol!