Channel 5 scores with football

Andy Cole breaks his duck against Albania

Channel 5 attracted its biggest ever audience figures on Wednesday night for its coverage of the World Cup qualifier match between Albania and England.

The station averaged five and a half million viewers for its coverage with almost eight million people tuning into the climax of the match, according to unofficial figures.

This is a great way to celebrate our fourth birthday

Dawn Airey, Channel 5

During the second half of the game, Channel 5 was the most watched channel in Britain.

The game was followed by the classic Michael Caine movie Get Carter which also performed well, gaining more than two million viewers and a 16% share.

'Terrific result'

Dawn Airey, chief executive of Channel 5, said: "Last night was a terrific result for both England and Channel 5 - this is a great way to celebrate our fourth birthday."

The channel celebrates four years in existence from Friday.

She added: "These figures are fantastic and don't even take into account the millions of viewers who will have watched the game in their local pub."