Archive encounters against Denmark and Italy will be shown while the matches would have been happening

The FA is to launch the #ReLions series in the time slots that the England men’s national team would have been playing against Italy and Denmark over the next five days.

With the live matches postponed due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis, the governing body has decided to show classic encounters between the sides instead. These matches will be streamed across the FA’s YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook channels.

On Friday 27 March at 8pm, it will stream England’s 1997 Le Tournoi match with Italy. The Three Lions went on to win the tournament, which was a warm-up for the France 1998 World Cup.

Next up will be an encounter with Denmark from 1994, which was Terry Venables’ first match as manager of the side. It will be broadcast at 8pm on Tuesday 31 March.

With football matches postponed or cancelled due to the covid-19 pandemic, archive footage has been one way for organisations to continue interacting with fans. There have also been some moves by clubs governing bodies to become involved in esports as a way to produce content without live games.

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