Football Association chief executive Ian Watmore is convinced victory for England Under-21s in their European Championship final with Germany can pave the way for more success at senior level.

Although Watmore was not in Gothenburg to see Stuart Pearce's side emerge victorious in their penalty shoot-out semi-final with Sweden, he did see England draw with the Germans in their group encounter last Monday.

Given the second-string nature of the England side that night, the result would have them installed as favourites in Malmo on Monday if it were not for the fact goalkeeper Joe Hart, plus striking duo Gabriel Agbonlahor and Fraizer Campbell all miss out through suspension.

Still, Watmore is full of praise for what has been achieved so far. And he is confident a first triumph in the competition for 25 years can impact on what Fabio Capello's men do in South Africa next summer.

"It would mean a lot to win this tournament both to the staff and the fans," he said.

"If you look back, all the great teams have had good youth teams along the way. It is a good example that talent is coming through.

"A number of these players have won senior caps already so it would give them a lot of hope for next year if we qualify for the World Cup and beyond that in the European Championships.

"These are the players who will be dominating English football in the next five or six years."

Instead of watching England in Sweden, Watmore was representing the FA at the New Manchester Children's Hospital as the Professional Footballers Association handed over a cheque for £1million.

Watmore was particularly taken by the painting by Yorkshire-based artist Darren Baker of a crowd scene at the new Wembley which includes scores of prominent footballers whose heads have been transposed onto the bodies of supporters.

As it is estimated in excess of 700,000 will pass through the hospital annually, Baker's work may be seen by more than visit the Mona Lisa at the Louvre.

Not that Watmore's mind was too far away from England, and Fabio Capello's quest to conquer the world which, typically, Brian Barwick's impressive successor is adopting a measured approach to.

"The manager has said many times, until we have qualified, we haven't," he said.

"He is concentrating on developing the team and getting them to play well, as we did against Andorra. Scoring six goals that night gave the fans a real lift.

"He will keep everyone's feet on the ground. Hopefully we can qualify in the autumn, then everyone can concentrate on South Africa next year."

And if they do, England can expect significant backing given the number of ex-pats who live in South Africa and the additional thousands who will make the journey almost as a matter of course.

Watmore had his first indication of the devotion which England fans have for their team at the start of his first week in charge, when a tube strike caused havoc for fans trying to reach Wembley.

Yet 58,000 still turned up to watch the Three Lions put six past Andorra.

"It was an absolutely tremendous effort by the England fans that night," he said.

"I had every confidence in them. They travel halfway round the world to watch England.

"They were not going to let a tube strike get in their way."