England v Argentina: Meet the Wisbech man who has taken home made flag to EIGHT World Cups

Paul Green, 68, always travels with his large St George’s Cross, which is adorned with the Norwich City crest.

The flag, which is about the dimensions of a double bed, was made by Paul’s ex-wife, who he says is a "good seamstress".

The grandfather-of-six says his passion for the Three Lions means he’s maxed out his credit card and spent £9,000 on tickets to every game this year.

It all started when Paul, a retired print worker from Norfolk, went to the 1982 World Cup, in Spain.

He said: “I’d never been to the World Cup before and just got hooked on it.

“I’ve just kept it ever since, it travels everywhere with me – not just World Cups, I follow the Euros as well.

“It goes everywhere.”

Paul’s flag has even started to draw the attention of official match broadcasts.

But his plans faced potential ruin after he was stopped by Mexican police at England clash with Mexico due to his flag being ‘too large’.

Under FIFA rules, flags brought into stadiums can only be a maximum size of two metres by one-and-a-half metres.

Luckily, Paul had applied for an official ‘fan materials certificate’ to ensure he could get in.

He added: “I had to show that about 10 times to the Mexican police and eventually they let you in with it.

“Normally at other grounds they have had a look at it just to check there’s nothing wrong on the flag, and they’ve let me in.

“Mexico’s the only one where they’ve actually asked for the certificate.

“I wasn’t going to [apply], but it didn’t cost anything to apply for it – which is unusual for FIFA, because they charge you for everything.”

Paul admits the flag is starting to show signs of its age – but he has no plans to even attempt to give it a clean.

He said: “It’s doing really, really well. It’s getting a bit battered now, over the years and things.

“I can’t wash it because the wife, when she made it, the red material will start to run if I wash it.

“It’s never had a wash, unless it’s in the rain.”