Football fans will now be counting down the weeks and putting the match dates in their diaries. In case it has escaped your notice, there’s a World Cup coming. If you’re not interested in football, that’s fine; life will go on pretty much as usual (though there may be a period of mourning and national self-abasement if, as often happens, England are knocked out by a low-ranking team). But if you run a pub or a bar, you would be wise to take an interest in the tournament, because it is an ideal opportunity to increase your takings.
Reading up on football...
If you and your staff don’t know much about football, now is the time to start reading the sports pages in the newspapers. But here are some essential World Cup facts. The football World Cup takes place every four years. The current holders are Germany. England last won it in 1966. This year’s tournament takes place in cities across Russia, from June 14 to July 15.
The final takes place in Moscow on July 15, kicking off at 4pm UK time. To begin with, the 32 countries taking part are split into eight qualifying groups. The teams in each group all play each other once – so all teams will play a minimum of three games. The top two teams in each qualifying group go through to the next stage, which is a straightforward 16-team knockout tournament. England’s fellow group members are Tunisia, Belgium and Panama.
In the course of four and a half weeks, a total of 64 games will be played. The earliest kick-offs are at 11am UK time; the latest are 8pm. If you don’t know much about football but would like to sound as if you are well informed, a handy phrase would be: “Belgium – they’re the dark horses for the tournament, aren’t they?”
Planning for the World Cup
Now is the time to get planning. First, you’ll need a schedule of world cup football fixtures. You might wish to print one off and fix it to the wall as a reminder. As the tournament grows closer, World Cup wall charts will become available; you could attach one of these to a wall in your pub or bar and fill in the scores as the tournament progresses. All games will be shown on free-to-air television, ITV and BBC, so you will need only a regular TV licence to show them on TV.
Watching football on TV in pubs and bars is a relatively recent phenomenon, dating back to the 1990s. High-quality big screens have become relatively inexpensive and football itself has become popular among a wider public, so going to the pub to watch a game is now part of many people’s lives. Many people prefer watching football in a pub, with its atmosphere of noisy enthusiasm, to watching it on TV at home. Some even prefer it to going to the real thing.
As the big kick-off draws closer, you could invest in advertising and promotion to raise awareness of which matches you will be screening in your pub or bar. Chalkboards, posters, social media and local newspapers are all effective. If your pub or bar has a Facebook page, this can be a good way to let your customers know your plans.
English fans will of course be glued to the screens when England are playing. But English – and British – football fans are a sophisticated, cosmopolitan bunch: they’ll be interested in the fortunes of other countries, especially those featuring Premier League players. Games such as Portugal v Spain on June 15 (7pm kick-off) will be big attractions. Bear in mind, too, that many women follow football, so their tastes should be catered for: wines, spritzers, and so on.
Food for football fans
If you serve food in your pub or bar, you might want to rethink your menu for World Cup games - hand-held food such as burgers, hot dogs and pizza slices will be better for people whose main focus will be on the game. You might also think about serving “themed” food to match the countries competing. Poland will be taking part in the World Cup, so if there is a Polish population in your neighbourhood, this would be a good time to attract them into your pub or bar – you could buy in Polish beers, drinks and snacks for the occasion. Likewise Portugal, Brazil and so on.
Beer can be served in jugs or pitchers, to prevent the need for people to keep going back to the bar. You could introduce a discount card that gives, say, 10 per cent off purchases of beer while games are showing. Also: be aware that in the knockout stages of the tournament, matches could go into extra time and then penalties. This would extend a match considerably; a game kicking off at 7pm might not end until 10pm if it goes all the way to a penalty shoot-out. Bad for the fans’ nerves, but good for business!
Standing room only?
A key element in your customer offering will be furniture. This will need to be rearranged to accommodate more people – some tables can be removed - and to ensure that everyone can see the big screen. This might be a good time to invest in some stacking chairs, which can be brought out for the big games and then stored away when not needed. A modest investment will quickly pay for itself in increased takings.
A simple stacking chair such as Trent Furniture’s Lyron chair is attractively designed, robust, modestly priced and easy to store away. Trent Furniture’s Crossback stacking chair is ideal for cafe or bar environments. Towards the back of the room or bar, where customers might be standing up, you could scatter some high tables where they can put their drinks and food. A table such as our Chrome Pyramid poseur table is robust, attractive - and hard to knock over in the event of over-exuberant celebrations.
Passionate – up to a point
Which brings us to an important point: behaviour. Football fans can get over-excited and passionate, especially after a few drinks. This can be scary and threatening for many customers. So you might want to put up posters or notices – friendly reminders that while customers are free to enjoy the game, please don’t spoil it for others. And your customers should be reminded that there should be absolutely no abusive language or “hate chants”.
For those who have no interest in football, who find the whole thing bewildering and silly, you could set aside a separate room, bar or area as a “football-free zone” and advertise it as such. Comfortable furniture, armchairs, sofas and low tables would make this a peaceful retreat from the noise and excitement.
During the World Cup there might be times when, as a landlord or proprietor, your crowd-management skills will be put to the test, but overall your pub or bar will be able to provide your customers with some memorable experiences. And perhaps – perhaps - your customers will be left with positive memories of England playing in a World Cup. For those who don’t follow football and the England team, this, in the end, is the point of it all - the optimistic belief that, despite all those humiliating defeats and early exits from tournaments, maybe this time we’ll win it.