Busiest pub day ever as England prepares to party like it’s 1966
Meanwhile, miles away, the stadiums of Russia have become an enclave of middle class exclusivity
TRAVELLING England fans have never been so middle class.
Nizhny Novgorod, a city on the Volga once so sensitive it was closed to visitors in Soviet times, was laid siege yesterday by a small army of England fans – lecturers, chartered accountants, investment bankers and company CEOs.
Or at least that’s how it appeared in bright and sunny Nizhny yesterday ahead of England’s second World Cup game against Panama.
Back home, millions will party like it’s 1966. Pubs predict the biggest ever Sunday drinking session while the BBC audience is anticipated to hit 25 million, four million more than the opening match against Tunisia.
Only 2,000 England fans, spending thousands of pounds, have made it to Nizhny, formerly Gorky and the fifth largest city in Russia. They are having a cultured whale of a time that includes tours of the city’s own spectacular 16th century Kremlin. “This is Putin’s show and he is keeping everybody quiet and it’s keeping the hooligans away on both sides,” said Debbie Stone, 64, a lecturer and mother-of-three from Harrow. Wearing an England cap, she is one of the few fans daring to show her colours.
“It’s educated and middle-class… ish,” said Ms Stone. “It’s civilised. They are doing the tourist sites. The younger group haven’t come and perhaps the cost and the security has put them off. The Euros [where there was violence] was a much younger group.”
Cost and planning are factors. Just to reach Russia and then get around is an exercise in logistics.
Philip Brown, 50, a chartered accountant, took four flights to reach Russia from the Cayman islands. To get to the third game in Kaliningrad, near Poland and Lithuania, he’s booked a taxi from Gdansk. It will cost him £600.
Elliott Charles, 24, a sports marketeer, and George Hesselgren, 25, an investment banker, are touring Russia between games, with whistlestop tours of Moscow and St Petersburg.
Mr Hesselgren, from London, said: “We wanted to see Russia anyway and we thought that a World Cup would actually be the safest time to do it.”
Mr Charles added: “What’s really interesting is we are seeing places that normally nobody would ever visit.”
Tony Keefe, 56, chief executive of a cyber security firm who has spent £3,500 and counting, said: “We were in Brazil and there was this omni-present threat of violence. So far – and it’s early days – it’s a lot more civilised. People are being careful about their behaviour.
“The problems at Marseille in 2016 [where England fans were ambushed by Russian hooligans] put a lot of the younger fans off. If there was going to be trouble, you’d already be seeing signs of it by now. Trouble normally happens from the start.”
Vladimir Putin is keeping Russian hooligans off the streets in his charm offensive. But it’s likely to be an awful lot rowdier back in England.
For the country’s pubs, Brigid Simmonds of the British Beer and Pub Association predicted the busiest day ever. “The fact that England played well in the first game and we’ve got a good young team also helps,” she said.