TAKING PRIDE

THE party atmosphere was in full swing last night as thousands of excited Three Lions fans got ready to roar on their heroes.

- PAUL BYRNE and ANDY LINES

They gathered across Germany as manager Gareth Southgate's team arrived in Gelsenkirchen.

Uefa have given England supporters 10,000 tickets for tonight's 8pm clash with Serbia.

But police believe double that number will be in the Arena AufSchalke with another 30,000 watching on big screens in the city.

Most are staying in nearby cities, including Essen, Dortmund, Dusseldorf and Duisberg. In Essen yesterday, Andy Preston, 54, son James, 25, and James' pal Mark Harris, all engineers, were soaking up the atmosphere.

Andy, from Preston, Lancashire, said: "I've never been to see England in a tournament before. I'm really looking forward to the match.

"It has been great so far. We watched the Germany and Scotland game in the fan zone and the

German fans were great." James added: "The Germans could not believe we were supporting them over Scotland, so we had to explain the rivalry." Mark, who lives in the northern German town of Bremen, said the locals were looking forward to the party atmosphere the England fans will bring.

"They joke about how drunk the English get and find it funny that the stadiums have had to sell low-alcohol beer for the Serbian game," he said.

Engineer Lee Hunt, 50, and his son Tom, 23, from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, arrived in the city on

Thursday and were proudly wearing their England shirts as they supped the local lager. Tom said: "I've seen these games on TV and I wanted to sample it for myself." His dad added: "I really want to experience this." And he is backing captain Harry Kane to lift the trophy in Berlin on July 15. "I think we have as good as chance as anybody. We need not to sit back,