Armistice Day: Wayne Rooney, Joe Hart, Daniel Sturridge and Gareth Southgate pay their respects at Stapenhill Cemetery
England face Scotland at Wembley on Armistice Day
ENGLAND captain Wayne Rooney and manager Gareth Southgate paid their respects to those who died fighting for their country at Stapenhill Cemetery on Tuesday.
Southgate and Rooney were joined by players Joe Hart and Daniel Sturridge as they visited a war memorial near their Burton-upon-Trent training base ahead of Friday's World Cup qualifier with Scotland.
The quartet were joined by youngsters from Burton Albion's academy, who also use England's St George's Park centre, and listened to a speech before placing poppy wreaths at the foot of the memorial.
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There has been anger among players and fans after world governing body Fifa blocked players from wearing poppies on their shirts.
But the FA have since confirmed that they will wear black armbands bearing poppies for their match against the 'Auld Enemy.'
Fifa prohibits any political, religious or commercial messages on shirts - but the decision left former England captains John Terry and Stuart Pearce in disbelief.
The match takes place at Wembley and kicks off at 7.45pm.
HISTORY OF THE POPPY
POPPIES became a symbol of troops’ sacrifice thanks to a Canadian doctor’s poem about the carnage of World War One.
Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae wrote In Flanders Fields after fighting in 1915’s Second Battle of Ypres in Belgium.
The touching verses detail how poppies continued to grow amid the dead men’s graves.
It ends: ‘If ye break faith with us who die / We shall not sleep, though poppies grow / In Flanders fields.’
It inspired a US academic to make silk poppies, and in 1921 the newly formed British Legion ordered nine million of them to raise money and help veterans get jobs and housing.
They sold out and that first “Poppy Appeal” raised over £106,000 — a considerable amount of money at the time.
The poppy’s power to raise much needed funds has continued ever since.
The Royal British Legion states: “The poppy is not a symbol of death or a sign of support for war, a reflection of politics or religion.”