England vs Italy: Crowd of 2,000 children attends behind-closed-doors Nations League clash at Molineux

England have a crowd of around 2,000 people present for their behind-closed-doors match against Italy at Molineux, with parking regulations denying them an even bigger audience.

The crowd is predominantly made up of children under the age of 14, with some adults accompanying them.

The match is taking place behind closed doors after the Football Association (FA) were hit with sanctions following the crowd trouble that marred the final of Euro 2020 at Wembley last summer.

Under current UEFA regulations, children up to the age of 14 (accompanied by an adult) from schools or football academies can still be invited to the match free of charge.

The FA have utilised this ruling, but the crowd at Molineux will be some way short of the 30,000 in attendance for England’s behind-closed-doors game against Hungary in Budapest last weekend.

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All children attending the game have to arrive via group transport, such as coaches or minibuses, and this is why the attendance will be much lower.

The maximum number of coach spaces allowed around Molineux and the surrounding roads is capped at 70, which means only a crowd of approximately 2,000 can attend.

When it was discovered the game would be behind closed doors, an invite to register for tickets went out to England Football-accredited grassroots football clubs within a 100-mile radius of Molineux.

Clubs were allowed to apply for up to 50 tickets with a maximum number of 12 adults per group. Any groups with a disproportionate number of adults to children were cancelled.

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