Football fever takes over UK as England fans get ready to raise the roof

Aman Sood

London, July 13

The moment of truth has arrived and the anxiousness and excitement is sweeping the length and breadth of England as its team braces for a tough challenge against a red-hot Spain.

I was willing to spend some £5,000 in cash but seems an impossible task to see the match in the stadium. From £167 airfare up for sale some 10 days back, they are now charging over £916 and even those tickets are not available now. A real estate dealer

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The fans, be it the native or the migrated ones, are ready to spend money like water to be able to make it to Berlin for the summit clash, but the possibility of being present at the Olympiastadion is bleak due to sold out flights and hotel bookings. Up to 50,000 fans are expected to reach Germany.

“Flights are already sold out and prices of spare tickets are up by five times as compared to the last week. While around 20 Ryanair flights are sold out, Easyjet’s 12 flights to Berlin from Luton, Bristol, Birmingham and Gatwick for Saturday and Sunday are booked to capacity,” says a London-based real estate dealer.

“I was willing to spend some £5,000 in cash but seems an impossible task to see the match in the stadium. From £167 airfare up for sale some 10 days back, they are now charging over £916 and even those tickets are not available now. Even the hotel rooms in Berlin are charging some three times for a night’s stay”, he stated.

The feel-good factor, though, is that the occasion could inject millions of pounds into the UK economy. Pub owners are expecting over £40 million of payday tomorrow, in part to the permission to open till 1am.

“I moved to London in 2004 and was not that big a fan of football, until I saw David Beckham play. This Sunday I have taken an off along with eight of my friends as we plan to cheer England to the title,” says Sahil Kumar, a banker who is settled in Ayelsbury.

Meanwhile, Britain’s new Prime Minister Keir Starmer has refused to commit to a last-minute bank holiday on Monday, if England win the Euro 2024, but said the UK should mark the occasion.