Manchester City's German legend Bert Trautmann has backed England's poppies push.

Captured by Allied forces towards the end of World War II, he settled in England and made more than 500 appearances for Manchester City, lifting the FA Cup in 1956 after playing on with a broken neck for the last 17 minutes of the final.

Now living in Valencia, the 88-year-old believes FIFA were completely wrong to have taken issue over England players wearing poppies.

"I would have ignored FIFA completely," he told the Daily Mail. "They should have stayed out of it and let the FA do what they wanted, as long as Spain agreed.

"I always wear a poppy when I'm in England in November. Who objects to it? It doesn't cause offence to anybody. Germans have no problem with it.

"It's important to remember what happened in the past."