A crowd of 70,000 will struggle to get there because of the 48-hour strike on the London Underground called by unions and which started at 7pm last night.

 

The Metropolitan Police wanted the match played behind closed-doors but were persuaded by the Football Association that this would have had even more serious repercussions for England's bid to host  the 2018 World Cup.

 

A spokesman for the FA said: "It would have looked awful if we had played behind closed doors and that looked likely before the meeting with the Met, Brent Council and Transport for London.

 

"We all know what the consequences would have been for 2018."

 

It could have been even worse because Sepp Blatter, the President of FIFA, was due to attend the match along with Prime Minister Gordon Brown but changed his plans at the last month to travel to South Africa instead.

 

The FA's decision to offer full refunds to supporters who decide it is not worth the hassle of getting to the World Cup qualifier at Wembley could cost them in excess of £1 million.

 

Although there was no legal requirement to offer fans their money back  the FA felt it necessary to at least make the gesture given the difficulty in getting to a venue that urges people to attend by using public transport.

 

Ian Watmore, the FA's new chief executive who only started his job on June 1, said: "Travelling will not be straightforward and fans should prepare to have a disrupted journey.

 

"Supporters should not rely on public transport and refunds will be made available to all ticket holders who decide not to attend this game.

 

"We are disappointed this has happened.

 

"But we know English people love their football and will turn out in force I am sure."

 

Meanwhile, the London Chamber of Commerce chief executive Colin Stanbridge said a compromise must be found if the strike is not to damage Britain's reputation abroad ahead of London 2012.

 

He said: “We’ve got the Olympics coming up.

 

"I mean, are we going to have a re-run of this sort of strike action when the Olympics come up and they feel they’ve got some sort of lever?

 

"We have to come to some sort of understanding or some sort of deal that allows London to get on with its business.”

 

The strike has been called by the Rail Maritime and Transport union in a dispute over pay, jobs and the sacking of two drivers.