Prince William cheers on England in crunch Euros conflict

Prince William was all smiles in Germany as England’s crunch clash against Denmark got underway tonight. 

William, who is also the President of the Football Association, will be hoping for an early birthday present as the nation holds its breath to see whether Gareth Southgate’s squad can build on their nervy 1-0 win against Serbia on Sunday.

The Prince of Wales, who turns 42 tomorrow, was spotted deep in conversation with Denmark King Frederik X as they joined tens of thousands of fans at the Frankfurt Arena, with millions more watching at home. 

England’s star-studded squad have the support of their WAGs and the nation as the tournament favourites attempt to go one step further than Euro 2020, when they lost to Italy in the final at Wembley. 

In the UK, fans have been getting on the booze early at hundreds of pubs, bars and fan zones, with many having worked from home or even taking the the day off to watch the match as it kicked off at 5pm on BBC One. 

A series of companies have even allowed their staff to leave work early or offered to show the game on TV in the office – although this is likely to see a rise in absences, sickness and lateness tomorrow, HR experts have warned.

Annual leave requests are up on the May daily average by 123 per cent today and 148 per cent tomorrow, according to research by BrightHR. The firm added that absences last Friday – the first day of the tournament – were up 302 per cent on May.

An estimated 18.5million people watched England’s winning start to Euro 2024 on TV against Serbia on Sunday night as Jude Bellingham scored in a 1-0 victory.

Some 86 per cent of England fans watched it at their home or a friend’s house, while 7 per cent went to a pub, according to data from discount provider Blue Light Card. 

Samuel Mather-Holgate, an independent financial advisor at Mather and Murray Financial in Swindon, told MailOnline today: ‘Given these major tournaments are only every 2 years, and the England match doesn’t demand a whole day of drinking, we will be letting everyone finish 90 minutes early, so they can get home, light the BBQ and relax with a bottle of something bubbly.

‘We don’t expect any absences the next day, especially given our flexibility for the match. We find that if you try to accommodate your staff’s needs, they pay you back with their loyalty.’

And Louise Skittrall, an HR expert at Robinson Grace HR Consultancy in the same town, said: ‘In light of the nation’s enthusiastic support of the England football team, we will be closing the Robinson Grace HR office at 4.30pm on Thursday to allow everyone to get home in time.

‘One of our clients has moved the times of their shifts that day to accommodate a 90-minute gap between the day and twilight shifts while the match is on.

‘We’re not anticipating many sickies at this stage of the competition but as the tournament progresses, it’s not uncommon to have a rise in absence or last minute holiday bookings to accommodate England matches.

‘Our advice to clients is to take a pragmatic approach – if watching at work can be accommodated, or a change in working hours on some days can be agreed, this can be a win, win. Others introduce a rota system so that those not interested in football volunteer to cover shifts when matches are taking place.’

Some fans took to social media to say how they were working from home today, with one saying on X: ‘WFH on Thursday, it is just to watch England lol – they better not be terrible.’

Another posted a selfie of them in their England shirt, saying: ‘Back to work today. WFH at least. At least there’s some stuff on the TV …’

And a third tweeted: ‘You can tell England is playing today. The way everyone is working from home today.’

Others commented on how they were not working at all today, with one tweeting: ‘I took the day off just so I can watch England game.’

Another said: ‘Told my boss England plays today I’m taking the day off work.’

Alan Price, chief executive at BrightHR, told MailOnline: ‘With England football fans gearing up for the match against Denmark this Thursday, businesses can expect a sharp increase in the number of staff finishing work early or taking half-days to catch the action live.’

He said the firm had looked at its absence management software, which monitors more than one million employees in the UK, to predict the possible impact.

 

Mr Price added: ‘Match days like this one can have a huge impact on attendance and productivity in the workplace, with absences, sickness and lateness sometimes doubling after big games.

‘Encourage staff to abide by the terms in their contract and only leave early if they have booked the time off in advance.’

The company revealed that during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, there was an increase of 111 per cent in the number of people who called in sick when England played the USA in the group stages on Friday, November 25 when compared to the daily average sickness rate.

This could mean an additional 50,000 people will pull a sickie today if the trend is repeated for the match.

Among the firms planning to show the game to staff is Peninsula, a company which specialises in HR, employment law and health and safety consultancy services for employers.

Kate Palmer, employment services director at the firm, told MailOnline: ‘At Peninsula, we choose to show big games in the office so employees don’t miss out on any of the action whilst continuing to do their work.

‘This could also be good solution for businesses where remote working is not an option.

‘With a 5pm kick-off, some bosses may choose to put on a social option for employees to stay behind and watch the match with colleagues, maybe you order in some pizzas and make an evening of it.’#

However she added that firms considering this option should ensure they have the correct licenses in place.

Ms Palmer continued: ‘If you are serving drinks, however, remember that social events are an extension of the workplace and inappropriate behaviour that happens at such an event could lead to you having to take disciplinary action the next day.

‘Remember employees can use their free time as they wish however if they are not in a fit state to work when they arrive on site then this becomes a problem for employers.

‘A gentle reminder that any such misconduct during the Euros will be subject to disciplinary action will often suffice.

‘Nobody wants to be the fun police, and many employers are looking forward to the Euros as much as their employees are. Having a sporting events policy in place ahead of major tournaments is the best way to avoid any misunderstanding.’

The BBC said its coverage of Sunday’s match was watched by an average audience of 10.5million, peaking at 15million.

The game was also streamed 3.5million times on BBC iPlayer.

England got off to a positive start in Germany when Bellingham scored a header 13 minutes into their Group C opener.

Manager Gareth Southgate said yesterday that he had spoken to his players about dealing with tournament background noise as England look to seal Euro 2024 progress with a game to spare.

England began the tournament with a hard-fought 1-0 win against Serbia on Sunday thanks to Bellingham’s early header but lost control of the match, leading to much debate ahead of their second match against Denmark.

But the England boss has been trying to keep the focus on what is important ahead of today’s match.

‘There’s going to be a narrative around a player, a couple of players after every England game,’ Southgate said, praising Phil Foden for doing an ‘exceptional job’ against Serbia despite some onlookers questioning his display.

‘This is a different world to the one you experience at clubs. The players as a collective recognise that now after the last couple of days. We talked with them about it.

‘It’s very rare at their club they’d win a game and experience what they’ve experienced over the last couple of days.

‘I have to make sure I can guide them through that, let them understand it and recognise it’s the reality of our world but that we shouldn’t be thrown off track by it.

‘We’re in a good position, we know we want to play better, there are lot of things we did really well and we move towards tomorrow’s game.’