Thousands of England followers will miss Euros remaining for startling cause
Almost 100,000 England fans are set to miss the Euro 2024 final against Spain this Sunday because they’ll be attending weddings.
The final, set for July 14, will see the Three Lions take on Spain in Berlin, with hopes high for a historic win after their narrowly missing out on bringing it home in 2021.
While many supporters are gearing up to cheer on England from pubs or the comfort of their homes, an estimated 100,000 fans will miss the action due to wedding commitments.
This surprising figure comes from a detailed study by football betting and news site, Footy Accumulators, which analysed 20 years of wedding data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS).
The study examined wedding dates from 1999 to 2019 to identify which England matches wedding guests are most likely to miss.
A whopping 100,000 England fans are set to miss the Euro 2024 final against Spain this Sunday because of a wedding clash (stock image)
The final, set for July 14, will see the Three Lions take on Spain in Berlin , with hopes high for a historic win after their narrow defeat to Italy in 2021 (stock image)
The findings highlighted that the final on Sunday, July 14, is the most probable clash.
Historically, 24,350 weddings have taken place on this date over the past two decades, averaging 1,217 weddings each year.
Given the average UK wedding hosts around 80 guests, this results in approximately 97,360 fans who will face the tough choice between celebrating nuptials and supporting England in a crucial match.
Commenting on the study, Alex Beecham, Managing Director of Footy Accumulators said: ‘Many football fans might say the best day of their life would be seeing their club or country winning major silverware, while others may say their wedding day.’
He added: ‘Unfortunately, thousands of England fans may not have a choice as plans coincide and many end up double-booked.’
With so much at stake, the coming Sunday promises to be memorable for both brides and grooms, and football supporters alike – though many will no doubt find themselves sneakily checking scores between wedding speeches and dances.
It coms as a hilarious video taken at a wedding shows the guests ignoring the nuptial celebrations to watch England’s thrilling clash against Switzerland in the Euro 2024 quarter-final last week.
The video was posted to X, formerly Twitter, by Gary Stafford (@staffordgary) with a caption that reads: ‘At a wedding when the football is on cmon England’.
It begins by showing a handful of guests gathered outside chatting in the sun
It begins by showing a handful of guests gathered outside chatting in the sun, before panning to reveal the rest of the attendees sat at their tables or huddled around a projector broadcasting the quarter final game.
In true British fashion, the majority of the party have decided that the England game is more deserving of their attention than the wedding celebrations.
In early June, when the Euros kicked off, brides from across the country squirmed at the thought of their guests, and more importantly their partners, prioritising football over their nuptials.
One such bride was Lauren Singer who got married to an avid football fan on the day of England’s opening match against Serbia on June 16 and was ‘fuming’ about the clash.
‘It’s the England game featuring my wedding,’ the 31-year-old told Metro.co.uk. ‘It’s cost us £19,000… I wouldn’t care if it was any other game because my guests wouldn’t be so fussed about it, but it’s England.’