The highs are as high as the lows are low – and it's not just your emotions that are on a rollercoaster ride. According to groundbreaking new research, watching England games can be an actual health risk. Scientists from the University of South Wales took to the pubs to monitor fans' physiological responses in real-time, capturing the full spectrum of emotional and physical changes during high-stakes football matches.
Professor Damian Bailey and PhD student Danny Walmsley set up a mobile laboratory in a Bristol pub to get up close and personal with the stress response. They fitted a willing participant with probes, cuffs, ultrasound probes, and even collected saliva samples to test for stress hormones like cortisol. The aim was to witness the full-blown 'stress response, excitement, emotional anxiety, fear, shouting, forgetting to breathe, perhaps breathing too much, all of the above'.
And what a match they chose – England's opening World Cup fixture proved to be an absolute thriller! A retaken penalty, two goals for England, and two equalisers from Croatia made it a nail-biting 2-2 at half-time. This 'six-goal frenzy' provided the perfect storm of emotions for the researchers to capture the physiological responses that come with supporting your national team.
While we await the full results, initial observations suggest a clear link between the drama on the pitch and significant changes in supporters' bodies. It's time to face the music: if you're a die-hard England fan, watching the games might be putting your health at risk – but is it worth it for that feeling of pure elation?