Patriotism or problems – The World Cup

People celebrate sporting events across England in the name of patriotism, yet do their celebrations cause more harm than good?

Across the country people watch football in bars and pubs, which inevitably leads to the consumption of alcohol. I wondered if the increase in traffic led to any increase in issues? Either between individuals and between patrons and establishments.

Ben Robins is a Pub attendee and England fan. He claims that ‘whilst there are more people and more drinking, the people generally don’t cause a mess’. He went on to say that they ‘don’t cause any issues, we just want to celebrate’.

I also spoke to an employee at a local bar. He said that ‘people have been drinking amore, and have been rowdy’. People in the bar continue to get more and more rowdy as England gets further and further into the World Cup. They that whilst they want to support their team, they do not want to cause any issues where they go.

As always there are incidents in local establishments of individuals behaving out of character due to the influence of alcohol. But the people attending claim they are present in support of their country and their team.

I Spoke to Robins about this also. He said that ‘We’re just here to have fun, we don’t want to hurt anyone’. This was after I asked about the harm that fans of the sport have been rumoured to cause.

The employee also stated that whilst the people were more disorderly during big sporting events, they ‘can’t help but appreciate the business it brings’. Business in pubs is at a ridiculous high during events like this, with a reported 15 million pints of beer being sold during the England VS Senegal match alone.

Both the fans and bar owners encourage people attending to support each other and enjoy the game. But they both agree that fans should try to maintain their composure whatever the outcome, and not cause issues for anyone involved.

It is expected that the consumption of alcohol will only increase as the English team passes further into the world cup, and we can only hope that any problems don’t increase simultaneously.