London, Oct 07: England fans yesterday said they would defy bans by the England and Turkey football authorities and go to Istanbul for Saturday's key Euro 2004 qualifier.
Kevin Miles, international co-ordinator for the football supporters' association, said a small number of fans were prepared to take the risk.
England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson's men will run out at the 50,000-capacity Sukru Saracoglu Stadium knowing a point will be enough to book their place in Portugal next summer.
But they will be aware that a repeat of the crowd trouble which marred their 2-0 victory over the Turks at Sunderland in April could see them thrown out of the tournament regardless of the result.
The Football Association is taking no chances, and having rejected its official ticket allocation for the game has urged fans not to travel because of fears of a repeat of the violence that has marred encounters between the two countries in the past.



The most serious incident came in April 2000, when two Leeds supporters were stabbed to death in a brawl before a Uefa cup tie against Istanbul club Galatasaray.
When the two national teams met in Sunderland in April, England's victory was tarnished by pre-match violence, two pitch invasions and the racist taunting of the Turkish fans by the home support.
England were fined a record 70,000 pounds (111,000 dollars) by Uefa after that match and have been warned further misbehaviour from their fans will result in them being thrown out of the Euro 2004 finals.


Bureau Report