Richard Sutcliffe: Hoping return to England duty will be more than a walk in the park

Not since the night Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher proved incapable of scoring from 12 yards in Gelsenkirchen as Portugal went through to the last four of the World Cup have I had the pleasure of cheering on the Three Lions from the stands.

Meeting ’Er Indoors and wanting to spend my hard-earned (honest) money on holidays together was the main reason for forsaking the joys of following England to foreign climes.

At first, it was a hard habit to break – especially in the months that followed the 2006 World Cup as my mates headed off to sample the various delights of Macedonia, Croatia and Israel.

Soon, though, any pangs of regret had disappeared as I realised there was more to an enjoyable holiday than, in between sampling the local brew, attempting to dodge psychotic locals intent on punching an Englishman or avoid being attacked by a police force keen on doing the same.

Never was this more apparent than the afternoon I watched England win 4-0 in Kazakhstan on television while sitting in a taverna with the missus on the beautiful Greek island of Zante.

Now, however, that self-imposed exile is to come to an end with September’s Euro 2012 qualifier in Bulgaria doubling as a reunion of all the lads that used to follow England around the world.

Some, like me, have fallen by the wayside due to a combination of mortgages, kids and a lack of spare cash. One former fellow traveller has also been absent for rather less wholesome reasons, namely a three-year banning order that followed one regrettable incident in Spain.

This miscreant apart, all the old faces will, therefore, be heading to Bulgaria. No doubt, as the first pint is being poured in the airport bar, the reminiscing will begin.

Of the night in Skopje when England fans were supposed to be banned and United Nations troops arrived at the final whistle to escort the 300 or so of us who had made the trip away from the stadium. The only problem was the taxi we had booked to take us back to our Sofia base was located in the opposite direction, meaning six very nervous England fans had to inch their way across a park in total darkness to the accompaniment of a gun being fired somewhere in the distance.

My mouth was as dry as the Sahara by the time we squeezed into the people-carrier, a sensation that was repeated in Poland a year later when the bus carrying us to the ground was tear-gassed by the police – leading to another nervous walk across a park where potential danger lay around every corner.

Thankfully, there were also more pleasant times such as the 17 days we spent in Portugal for Euro 2004, when even a missed train and an uncomfortable night spent sleeping on a bench in Lisbon station could not spoil a truly wonderful holiday on the Algarve.

The near month spent in Germany for the 2006 World Cup was, if anything, even more fun, though if I had to choose my favourite trip of all time, it was following England to Chicago and New York for meaningless friendlies against the US and Colombia.

Great times and ones that I am sure will be added to later this year in Bulgaria.