Football fans have shared the top 10 faux-pas they can make when it comes to match days – including booking their wedding on the same day as a key game. The “own goals” list also included forgetting the tickets at home when travelling to watch a match at a stadium (41%), and leaving the game early as they believe their team has lost – only for them to equalise (35%). As an estimated 7,000 weddings are set to face scheduling conflicts with key England games this summer, eight in 10 couples are concerned that their special day might be one of them. Thursday, 20th June is a particularly unfortunate day to have scheduled your wedding for this year, as this is the same day that the English team will take on Denmark in the group stage of the European competition.
But one lucky couple, and their wedding guests, are being offered the best of both worlds – with the chance to win a football screening room, if their wedding falls on the same day as a key England match. He identified the days with the highest wedding frequencies in previous years when England played matches, and summed up these days to calculate the total number of weddings that could coincide with England’s matches in their upcoming competition. A survey of 2,000 footy fans, commissioned by Snickers, revealed that over a quarter of British football fans (27%) admit they would secretly watch a game during a wedding, while 41% would constantly check the score on their phones. Just over one in 10 (13%) would even sneak away from a wedding to the pub to not miss a match minute – with 13% encouraging the couple to show the game at their wedding.
Kerry Cavanaugh, from Snickers, said: “We all know that feeling of scoring an own goal – that moment of realisation when you’ve turned up at the wrong grounds, or when you hear crowds cheering at a goal just as you’ve nipped to get a hot dog. “That’s why, this summer, we are helping out the nation’s fans by offering brides and grooms, whose wedding falls on an England game day, the chance to win the ultimate screening room, and avoid scoring an own goal on their big day.”
TOP 10 FOOTBALL “OWN GOALS”:
– Leaving the tickets at home when arriving at the stadium
– Leaving earlier because you think your team has lost, only for them to equalise
– Missing a goal to go and get food/drinks
– Missing a game altogether, because you got the kick-off time wrong
– Sleeping through a game
– Arriving late for a game
– Accidentally wearing the colours of the opposing team
– Booking a wedding on an important game day
– Accidentally planning a date on the same day as a key football match
– Sitting next to the fans playing drums
