WE arrived in Malta on Tuesday morning for my first ever England away trip and set up base at the St George's Park hotel in St Julians.

We quickly acclimatised, helped not inconsiderably by happy hour at the local gastro pub lasting from 10am to 6pm, seven days a week.

As match day approached, England flags from many different clubs hung from balconies all over Malta and on Thursday evening we had to collect our match tickets from the Intercontinental Hotel in St Julians.

Swordfish and chips was my pre-match meal with a few pints of Cisk – the excellent Maltese lager – to calm my nerves.

Getting about Malta was easy on the local buses. Bus tickets were two euros valid for any journey within two hours.

So, we elected to spend the day in Mdina and Rabat, as they were within walking distance of the National Stadium at T'Qali.

Mdina holds special memories for me as I got married there in the Carmelite church 30 years ago.

Our Cisk deliberations centred around what team Gareth Southgate would pick. Would Joe Hart be in goal? Who would be up front with Harry Kane? What would England do without Wayne Rooney and what would Wayne Rooney do without England?

The atmosphere in the ground was terrific and I spotted the BWFC Whites on Tour England flag and met a Lancaster White in the ground.

Half of Malta supports England, so there were no shortage of well wishers around.

When the match started, England pressed early on and ex-BWFC defender Gary Cahill was unlucky to have a goal disallowed.

But the Maltese fought like terriers and in the first half in particular, we were awful.

As one BWFC fan said at half time, that was bad and I'm used to watching Bolton!

However, England eventually prevailed as Kane finally found his scoring boots and we got three late goals as the Maltese tired at the end.

After the match, it was complete chaos trying to get away from the stadium but we were saved by a friendly taxi driver looking for three England fans and we fitted the bill to be one of the earliest arrivals back in St Julians.

It's been a wonderful experience watching England away and we'll be watching the Slovakia match in a bar in Malta on Monday evening.

Then It’s back to the Macron to roar Bolton on against Middlesbrough next weekend.