England World Cup stars despatched ‘your nation wants you’ to win message by pubs

With two bars shutting every day landlords are relying on summer football fever to boost business and keep them trading – and that means both the Three Lions and Scotland going deep

View 4 Images

Pubs have sent England a ‘we need you’ to win the World Cup message – to save them from wipe out. Two boozers are shutting every day due to rising costs and slumping sales.

Landlords are relying on the summer soccer showpiece to boost business and keep them trading. Most fans cannot afford to travel to the tournament in the US, Mexico and Canada.

Hospitality chiefs hope they will instead watch the matches in the pub with their pals. Bar bosses are desperate for England to reach the final so national celebrations will rumble on for months.

They are upgrading TVs, installing giant screens and working out a host of promotions in a bid to lure in as many supporters as possible.

Greene King chief executive Nick Mackenzie said the company’s 2,600 pubs have received an influx of early bookings for the tournament.

The boost was ‘really important’ as the sector grappled with a ‘consumer confidence challenge’.

Greene King, which has reported a 3.6% increase in annual revenue to £2.5bn, will merge its app-based sports bar loyalty programme with its group-wide scheme so it can offer promotions across its pubs and other brands.

Admiral Taverns is expecting to sell 10% more beer than usual at its 1,350 pubs during the tournament.

Chief executive Chris Jowsey said: “That’s significant especially in the current climate.

“A lot of communities are pretty hard-pressed.”

The company has invested in more and bigger TVs at its venues to ensure every customer – sitting or standing – will be able to see a screen at all times.

But publicans warned their optimism hinged on England and Scotland performing well.

While time zones would also pose a problem with games kicking off late in the evening and early morning UK time.

Though pubs will be able to stay open until up to 2am on match days later kick-offs ‘make big outdoor events in beer gardens slightly problematic’, said Jowsey.

Admiral Taverns will have fewer outdoor marquees than during previous major tournaments to ‘make sure we don’t upset the neighbours’, he added.

Heineken UK-owned Star Pubs started planning for the tournament in September and was upgrading screens and sound systems at dozens of its more than 2,350 venues, according to managing director Lawson Mountstevens.

One independent pub boss: “The World Cup could not have come at a better time for us. All our costs seem to be soaring and it doesn’t seem to matter what we do it’s tough to get people in.

“We really need England to win – and to beat Scotland in the final!”

Pub bosses have been hit hard by increases to employers’ national insurance contributions and the minimum wage, rising energy costs and food inflation due to the Iran war.

In the first quarter of 2026, 161 bars shut in England, Scotland and Wales with the loss of an estimated 2,400 jobs.

But Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, has said she expects the World Cup – which runs from June 11 to July 19 – will offer a ‘great boost’.

However a revival in pub spending could come at the expense of other hospitality sectors.

Saxon Moseley, head of leisure and hospitality at accounting firm RSM UK, said gastropubs and restaurants may experience slumps.

“People have a certain amount of discretionary income and we expect that to go down because of the war,” he said.

“If you choose to go to the pub to watch the World Cup that comes out of other activities – like going to a restaurant.”