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Pubs count the cost of Euro 2008 failure
Pubs in the county face a bleak summer after England failed to make the finals of Euro 2008.
The competition begins today but pubs across Northamptonshire say England's failure to qualify will hit their takings.
When the England team make the finals of such competitions, pubs and clubs see their takings soar as customers flock to watch the action on their big screens.
Jamie Walsh, the assistant manager at the Cutting Room in Wellingborough, said he was expecting far fewer people through the door than if England had qualified.
He said: "It's going to be nowhere near as busy. If England were playing and doing well we could have about 600 people in here. As it stands I think we'll be lucky if we have about 30 people in for some games.
"There just isn't the buzz around the event if England are not playing. It's disappointing but what can you do?"
None of the home nations qualified for the tournament, which takes place in Switzerland and Austria and kicks off today with joint hosts Switzerland playing the Czech Republic.
While pubs and bars would normally be packed with football fans, it looks likely that only a handful will turn out to watch the games.
Tony Whitmore, a barman at the Feathers Inn, in High Street, Rushden, said: "It will hit us because we won't get the people who come in for the England games.
"We'll probably lose 50 to 75 per cent of what we would normally make at this time.
"You can't compare it to last time because there wasn't the smoking ban then, but basically every time the football was on and England were playing you couldn't move in the pubs.
"Obviously we will get a few in to watch the other countries but it won't be on such a scale as if England had qualified."
Manager of The Earl Of Dalkeith in Kettering Jason McDonald agreed.
He said: "We're certainly not going to be as busy as we would have been –if England had qualified we would expect the pub to be full of fans.
"We're still going to get people in watching the games, and people supporting the other nations but it will be nowhere near as busy for us."
Jamie Lane, manager of Bar Sun in Kettering, said: "It would have been nice if England had qualified – we always get more business when the home teams qualify and people come out to watch them."
In Corby, manager of the Everard Arms Gary McFarlane said he still planned to show the tournament.
He said: "It's not going to be as busy, I think a lot of people will just stay at home and watch it there. We won't lose business, but we won't get the bonus of a pub packed full of football fans."
However, there is a chance of some trade from foreign workers in the county.
Gail Lawlor, landlady at the Oxford Tavern in Oxford Street, Wellingborough, said: "I have got a few Czechs and Portuguese come in so I don't really think it will affect me, as I don't really get a lot in for the matches anyway.
"I don't think it will make too much of an impact because a lot of people seem to be looking forward to it anyway."
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Weather for Kettering
Sunday 27 May 2012
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Temperature: 10 C to 25 C
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