THE England football team may have been depressingly knocked out of Euro 2004 but with a growing fan base taking in all sectors of the community, there are reasons to be cheerful, as feature writer JENNY SCOTT discovered. . .

FOR England, Harry and St George declared the red and white flags in Portugal last week as thousands of England fans cheered on our boys through the ecstasy of last minute equalisers and the agony of penalty shoot-outs.

Such displays of national pride in previous years have sometimes represented all the worst aspects of Britain - the hard-drinking yob culture that often strays into violence and racism.

But it is estimated that this year a record number of British Asians travelled to Portugal with the Three Lions on their chest to support Sven Goran Eriksson's side in football's European Championships.

And East Lancashire's Asian communities proudly flew the national flag - a symbol that has been, at times, in danger of being appropriated by racist right-wing groups.

Mushtaq Khan, 39, from Leamington Road, Blackburn, was one of the estimated 30,000 fans who made the trip to the Algarve.

A football fan from the age of six, Mushtaq went to the 1998 World Cup in France and Euro 2000, hosted by Belgium and Holland, but said there was a discernable difference in the make-up of England fans this time round.

"The fan base really seems to have changed," he said. "There are more female fans and a lot more black and Asian supporters.

"I don't know why that's happened, perhaps the banning orders on some of the troublemakers are working or perhaps it's just down to an increase in interest.

"A few years ago,all of the fans were white and male, usually shaven-headed and thick-necked. But there aren't many of them around any more."

Indeed Mushtaq, who works as head of housing strategy at Trafford Council, has seen a real sea-change in attitudes, both on his travels to international tournaments and following his beloved Blackburn Rovers.

"I never faced anything too terrible in terms of racism," he said. "In the mid-80s there was a bit of trouble, but everyone had trouble then.

"But things have really changed. Out in Portugal, you could see a lot more Asians walking around with the England shirt on and waving the national flag. There's been a real drive to reclaim those things from the far-right groups."

They were flying the red-and-white flags back home as well, as Ikram Ashfaq can testify.

During the championships the 20-year-old, from Nelson, helped run a Football Live programme with the Prince's Trust at Blackburn and Burnley football clubs, offering free coaching to youngsters.

He believes football is more ingrained in British Asian culture than it has ever been thanks to more kids growing up with the game.

"When I was young, my father would take me to the cricket club all the time," he said. "I had his support to get involved in cricket but not in football because he wasn't a football fan.

"I'm sure for a lot of Asians that family commitment to football hasn't been there but I can see that changing in the future.

"Young parents who were born in England are more familiar with football and encourage their children to take part."

Ikram himself has been a Manchester United fan since the age of six and started playing at school.

"When I was younger, you didn't see many Asian kids playing football," he said. "There was maybe the odd one. But now there are loads."

However the Premiership is not yet overflowing with Asian talent as keen Blackburn footballers Tahir Gorji, 18, Hanif Natha, 19 and Sakib Zarif, 16, all pointed out.

Tahir, who plays twice a week, said: "There's a lot of talent out there, although there's probably nobody quite good enough at the moment to make the breakthrough."

Leon Mann, a spokesman for the North West Kick Racism Out Of Football campaign, agreed. He said there were just four professional Asian players, including Newcastle United striker Michael Chopra and Leeds United's Harpal Singh.

Leon believes negative stereotypes within the game still hamper their progress but agreed England's widening fan base will help tackle the problem. "In the World Cup in Japan two years ago we saw for the first time a lot of supporters who weren't white, male 20 to 30," he said.

"People sitting watching in their living rooms couldn't see any reason why they shouldn't travel abroad to support the country they were born in. That can only be a positive thing for communities."