Around 4,000 T-shirts which were planned to be handed out to fans before the England vs Malta match will be binned following the sacking of coach Sam Allardyce.

The T-shirts had been ordered to celebrate Allardyce's first home game in charge of England, according to The Sun newspaper. 

Allardyce, 61, was caught up in a newspaper sting in which he is alleged to have met a bogus consortium of Far East businessmen seeking advice on the Premier League's billion-pound transfer market.

Gareth Southgate will take charge of the England team for the next four matches, including the World Cup qualifier against Malta.

Each T-shirt was emblazoned with the Allardyce quote: “The journey starts with us all pulling together”, which he made on the day he was announced as the new Three Lions boss in July.

A giant mosaic to be held aloft by the fans was also purchased as England went all out to help build up the atmosphere at the World Cup qualifier.

In total, according to The Sun, it has left the FA around £40,000 (€46,000) out of pocket as the entire programme of activity to celebrate his homecoming was canned.

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