Football is good for booze sales

Of all the stupidest, dumbest and - to be frank - absolutely ridiculous things to arrange:- The final of the football is hosted on a Sunday - where the pubs are being allowed to stay open until 1am and where there will be thousands of people taking ' sickies' on Monday morning - suffering with hangovers either from celebrating the night away - or - commiserating and crying into their cornflakes - and this REALLY should have been planned for a Saturday night - and of all things - only an absolute moron would plan it this way.

It is outstandingly stupid.

Have these people no common sense at all ?

They are like our politicians, no idea.

AND:- Euro 2024 has been a big boost to pub industry.

The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) expects that pub landlords will pull an extra 10m pints on the day of the final, bringing in nearly £50m in additional revenue, and we all know what that means for business on Monday morning. Hundreds will be taking ' sick leave' as they nurture hang overs and either ( on writing ) a hip hip hooray feeling - or they are depressed - one or the other.

Overall, the BBPA thinks England’s progress through the tournament has been worth £227m in extra beer sales and while I completely 'get it' - when you consider the damage alcohol does to peoples lives, and the lost hours from hangovers and the destruction of family life and how drunks cause and create mayhem in town centres on an average weekend - and how much it costs the NHS - etc. should we be celebrating how good this is for the economy ?

UK Hospitality, the trade body that represents the wider sector, estimates that if England are crowned European champions the industry will have benefited from an £800m uplift and this is wonderful as our tourist industry and pubs need the business.

Alongside that, high street retailers including Tesco and Marks & Spencer expect food and drink sales to see a huge lift over the weekend as hosts stock up for barbecues and viewing parties.

It's like a religion to many.

Tesco thinks it will shift 1m pizzas, 180,000 packs of burgers and 800,000 packs of sausages.

Additionally, it believes 4m packs of beer and cider, 1.2m cans of no- or low-alcohol versions and 2.5m bottles of wine will be purchased.

This is all wonderful stuff. Good for the shops. Good for the country to ' come together' and celebrate and if we do win, I shall certainly lift a cheer in celebration. But I won't celebrate by getting ' off my head' with booze and while - ( apologies ) I shall probably NOT be watching it, I shall more than likely hear Gary screaming in his room and we will be singing ' Football crazy - we're football mad' all day.

Oh dear.

While footie is not my thing, It is VERY good for the country and well done to the guys for getting us this far and if we win - FANTASTIC... It's good to show the world that The UK is still on top form.

NOW: If football was done like the original Olympics - NAKED - then I am sure there would be so many more non football types - like me - who would be glued to the screen.

I found these pictures online so they are not the UK team and I just added them for a giggle and - well - it would be good - huh?