Football fan Paul Craig brought back a flag back from the Word Cup that was so big he had to keep it's own suitcase.

The England fan returned home on Tuesday and decided to show off his souvenir from Japan by hoisting it over his home with a set of pulleys and wheels.

The 18ft St George's flag was passed around the Sapporo stadium before England's historic 1-0 victory over the Argentinians.

It is emblazoned with the words Go England in English and Japanese and was caught on national TV as the cameras scoured the crowds before the match.

Businessman Paul, 30, of Third Avenue, Worthing, said: "We put the pulleys up because I thought the neighbours would go mad if it was up all the time."

Paul picked up the flag as it passed through the hands of some of the thousands of England supporters.

He said: "Right at the beginning of the game the flag was being passed around the crowd. It came near me and it was bundled on to an empty seat so after the match I picked it up and took it with me. It was so big I had to keep it in one suitcase. It took up the whole case so I had to keep my stuff in my mate's case for the two weeks."

The flag was signed by some English fans who had passed it round.

Paul, who also went to France for the World Cup in 1998, returned home before England's long-awaited meeting with Brazil this morning as he had not foreseen the success of his team.

He planned to hoist the flag over his home this morning while he and 20 friends watched the match.