Back home Tesco is expecting to sell 33 million packs of beer and cider over the coming month
Thousands of England fans have flocked to Germany to watch England’s first game in the Euros against Serbia today at 8pm (Sunday, June 16). This is just the first tranche of fans with hundreds of thousands expected to make the pilgrimage to watch England play the beautiful game.
The game is being held in Gelsenkirchen in West Germany, near Dortmund. German Police have issued a warning about Serbian ultras expected to attend in opposition. They have labelled the game as “high risk”.
The local police aren’t just worried about Serbians either it seems but also drunken Brits. They have advised fans to not drink beer but to smoke cannabis instead, The Times reported, in hopes of dampening hooligan behaviour. Germany recently partially legalised cannabis in the country.
READ MORE: The classic England football anthem that was filmed on streets of Hoxton – do locals remember it?
Back home supermarkets are preparing for one of their busiest periods in the year as football fans stock the fridge to watch games from home. Tesco said it expected to sell 33 million packs of beer and cider over the coming month but is also predicting it will sell 5.5 million bottles and cans of “no” and “low” alcohol options – a record for a major football tournament.
Wine sales are expected to top 30 million bottles, alongside more than 11 million pies, and more than 90,000 packs of bunting.
However, police in the UK have warned that excessive drinking during the tournament may contribute to a potential rise in domestic abuse. The National Police Chiefs’ Council said a study from Lancaster University found there was a 38% increase in domestic violence incidents when England lost a game between 2002 and 2010, and a 26% rise when they won.
Women’s aid charity Solace and the National Centre for Domestic Violence, have created an alternative England kit – “Shirt 38” – to raise awareness of the support available to anyone experiencing domestic abuse as part of their “No More Injury Time” campaign ahead of the Euros.
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