London by Thanasis Gavou

Sunday’s European Football Championship final in Berlin is already on the minds of England fans as they hope their national team can beat Spain to win their first international trophy since 1966.

Pubs and bars are already making preparations for patrons who choose to watch the match with a beer, while major supermarket chains have announced they will close early to allow staff to watch the match.

A pub and bar booking website says the number of bookings is now up to 16 per second, up from the 1.4 it usually handles.

Pub owners expect that they will serve 10 million glasses of beer more than a normal Sunday, which translates into an extra £50m in revenue.

Chains such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s will close late-night stores at 7.30 local, half an hour before the final kicks off, instead of 10 or 11pm.

Other chains, such as Lidl, will open an hour later on Monday morning, at 9 instead of 8, to give workers a chance to rest and… get a little more drunk.

In any case, this weekend is expected to see record sales in supermarkets ahead of Sunday’s game.

All flights from Britain to Berlin or nearby destinations are full, while the efforts of English fans to secure a last-minute ticket for the final are frantic, with prices reaching 2,500 pounds.

It is estimated that England’s successful participation in the Euros so far has contributed £2.7 billion to the British economy in associated sales of alcohol, food, football matches, souvenirs, televisions and electrical appliances.

Information from Talksport states that in the event of victory, the England national team will on Tuesday tour the trophy in an open bus in the center of London, ending up at Buckingham Palace so that players and technical staff can be honored by King Charles.

On Monday, shortly after the team’s return from Berlin, the national team is expected to be welcomed by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at Downing Street.

Meanwhile, Mr Starmer from Washington and the Nato summit on the sidelines of which he watched part of the dramatic semi-final with the Netherlands, did not rule out declaring a national holiday should the national side win.

As leader of the official opposition in 2021, well-known football fan Keir Starmer had called for an extra bank holiday if England beat Italy in the (ultimately lost) final of the previous Euro at Wembley.

“I don’t want to screw it up,” Sir Kiir told the BBC when asked about the holiday.