You do not have to be barmy to be a World Cup fan, but it helps.

"If it cost me a million pounds I'd have come," said 64-year-old Keith Campbell, Jamaican-born, but living in Britain and who has spent US$8,000 (HK$62,000) to reach the Caribbean.

"If I were married and my wife said she'd divorce me if I came, I would still come."

Matches at the seven-week long tournament would not lack for color or noise.

England has its Barmy Army, while India boasts a Bharat Army.

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The West Indies can boast the Trini posse, the Mound Massive and even a Bajan posse.

It was the Australian media which gave England followers their name in 1994 after doubting the sanity of fans who supported such a losing cause on a tour which saw England lose to the Australian second X1 as well as the Aussie youth team.

But what started as a motley crew is now almost a major business.

"I spoke with Richard Branson in 2003 about putting a Virgin logo on a union flag. But he wasn't interested," co-founder Paul Burnham told the Daily Telegraph after the Ashes tour to Australia this year.

It is believed that around 30,000 English fans made the trip to Australia, spending on average US$10,000 each, and with a mailing list of 30,000, there are business opportunities to exploit.

Barmy Army shirts are sponsored by a mobile phone company while an online betting company backs the group's travelling trumpeter.

In Trinidad, the Trini Posse, co- founded by dentist Nigel Camacho, combines cricket and carnival and woe betide those fielders marooned on the boundary where the noise is non-stop during long, hot afternoons.

"We had a passion for the game which coupled with being young and having a good time just progressed into the Trini Posse. It was wonderful and it became an obsession, it became a cult," Camacho said.

Unlike the raucous Barmy Army, the Bharats believe they have a more refined outlook. Founder-member Shailen Tank was once quoted as saying that the Indian followers never swore no matter how much the performance of their side irritated them.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE