Football Association general secretary David Sabir is challenging local fans to prove it.

Sabir is making a plea to supporters to rally behind the national team for tonight's second friendly match against Denmark at BAA Field (8.00) after poor attendances in the three recent matches against foreign opposition.

Home crowds have fallen considerably since the 1992 World Cup qualifying campaign and a period in the 1980s when spectators turned out in large numbers to watch visiting English teams.

A total of about only 500 paid fans attended the two Antigua games -- the second in rainy conditions -- while just over 1,000 paid spectators went through the gates at Wellington Oval on Sunday for the first match against the Danish Under-23s, won by the visitors 2-1.

And those figures aren't encouraging as regards the BFA's six-year international programme, said Sabir.

"After years of bringing international football to Bermuda and considering the fact that football is the most supported and played sport in the country, the BFA is still somewhat disappointed with the spectator support given to the international programme,'' said Sabir yesterday.

"It has always been a human cry that not enough international football is played in Bermuda. In attempting to rejuvenate the programme, we have recognised that it just cannot be the sum total of all the efforts of the BFA executive committee and the players we are asking to commit and or the sponsors who have come on board thus far.

"It must be everybody who considers themselves a football fan. It must be every club in Bermuda that actively promotes and supports football in this country. It must be every family member whose son participates in football.'' Sabir said the tours would not be possible without the generosity of the sponsors. At a time when the corporate sector was showing more support, the spectators were staying away.

"Our affiliation with FIFA and CONCACAF dictates that we have to participate internationally,'' Sabir pointed out.

"For many years we have had to travel overseas to participate because of the high cost of bringing teams into Bermuda. Due to the special generosity in sponsorship from the Bank of Bermuda, Centre Solutions and Cable and Wireless, we are able to bring some good teams to Bermuda.

"Definitely without the sponsors we would not be able to do it.'' Sabir noted crowds didn't turn out in force for matches over the last year involving Kansas City Wizards, St. Vincent under-17s in the Youth World Cup qualifying, Antigua and now Denmark. At the same time crowds have been good for the domestic finals like the Martonmere and Dudley Eve.

Sabir said he would be surprised if the $10 admission fee was used as an excuse by the absent fans.

"We charge $3 for league games and $5 for cup games and it must be appreciated that, given the exposure of international football, the price must go up,'' he said.

"We make a plea to anybody who calls themselves a football fan to put aside negative opinions about football in the country, which player who is or is not in the squad or the venue of the match and support the objectives and initiatives of the BFA.

"When we are playing at home spectators must replace negative and disrespectful remarks at players who are representing the country in favour of cheers and encouragement so that they can raise the level of their game and feel proud to represent Bermuda.'' National team coach Robert Calderon said he also would like to see more support from the Island's clubs.

"We struggle getting players from their club commitments,'' Calderon said after Sunday's match in which fitness became an issue.

"We need to see players more than once a week and I say that without making a negative comment about what takes place at the club level. But I have to tell you, you saw players today whose level of fitness is not where it needs to be from an international perspective.

"If we are not able to match teams physically then we are not going to stay in the game for 90 minutes and that's what happened. In the last 10 minutes you saw guys struggling in a huge way and that was, in fact, the difference in the game.'' Added Calderon: "We need coaches who support what it is we're doing at the national level by encouraging the players to be involved. If we can get players involved on a regular basis then we can go about the business of developing a team.''