England's World Cup hopes are about to take a knock – and it has nothing to do with their opponents Mexico! The Government has pulled the plug on extending pub opening hours for Sunday morning's crunch match, which kicks off at 1am. It's a bitter pill to swallow for publicans and fans alike who were pinning their hopes on an extra few hours of footy-fuelled revelry.
Liberal Democrat MP Max Wilkinson tried to persuade Business Minister Kate Dearden to come to the rescue, arguing that pubs stood to lose a small fortune if they weren't allowed to stay open late. But despite the best efforts of Wilkinson and his colleagues, the answer was a firm "no" from Government – with Dearden explaining that Sunday's 1am kick-off doesn't fit into the existing relaxed licensing rules.
The current rules allow pubs to roll out the red carpet for England and Scotland matches, staying open until 1am if they're kicking off between 5pm and 9pm. But for games starting after 9pm – like Sunday's early morning encounter with Mexico – the extended hours only go up to 2am. It's a narrow window of opportunity that many pubs won't be able to take advantage of, leaving them high and dry.
Even though the deadline for submitting a Temporary Event Notice (TEN) has passed, some clever clogs will have anticipated England's progress and applied in advance – but they'll still be the exception rather than the rule. And with Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, describing it as a "crying shame" for both fans and pubs, you can bet your bottom pint that this decision won't go down well with many in the football-loving community.