‘We’re expecting it to be busy’
Football fans react to England v DR Congo – people are hoping their locals will be able to open in the early hours of Monday(Image: Reach Plc)
Landlords in Bristol are weighing up whether – and how – to open up for the England game in the World Cup on Sunday night, after the Government announced that previous licensing restrictions were being dropped on the eve of the big game.
Yesterday, Bristol Live reported that pub landlords who had prepared in advance for the prospect of England playing a last 16 game in the World Cup which would kick off at 1am on a Monday morning, were able to open because they had got a special event licence request in early.
But the landlords of other pubs and clubs were complaining that they had been told they needed ten days’ notice to get a ‘TEN’ – a temporary events notice – to be able to stay open for the game in the early hours of Monday morning.
Today’s announcement that the Government would be using a ‘Statutory Instrument’ in Parliament that relaxed the rules around pubs staying open late into Sunday night now means landlords across Bristol are deciding whether they will be opening for the match, and how to do that if they choose to.
Pubs we know are staying open to show the match
- Air Balloon (Filton)
- Albion (Portishead)
- Bay Horse (Bristol)
- Brunel (Bedminster)
- Channings Hotel (Clifton)
- Crab Apple (Clevedon)
- Farmhouse (Yate)
- Horseshoe (Downend)
- Mill House (Emersons Green)
- Peacock (Clifton)
- Robin Hood (Clifton)
- Royal Oak (Nailsea)
- Wackum Inn (Bristol)
- The Old Fish Market (Bristol)
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “Football might be coming home but we’re making sure fans don’t have to. Pubs staying open till the final whistle is good news for supporters and good news for the pubs and venues that bring our communities together.
“The whole country will be backing the team. Come on England!” he added.
But staying open late into Monday morning presents challenges for pub landlords – the main one being finding staff willing to work until 5am, and also not knowing exactly how much of an appetite there will be among England fans to go out and watch the game in a pub in the middle of the night.
Greene King said around 600 of its 2,600 pubs, restaurants and hotels would be staying open for the game, but Wetherspoons said only five of its 800 pubs would be showing the match.
In Bristol, some pubs – like the Rising Sun in Ashton, the May Tree in Headley Park and the New Inn at Keynsham – already paid for the licences and had plans in place to stay open.
The landlord of the Three Lions in Bedminster, Sean Donnelly, was one who thought they would have to close before the game, after he was told he couldn’t get a licence at short notice, but with the Prime Minister’s announcement, he now can open up the famously patriotic South Bristol pub.
England fans go wild at the Ashton Gate sports bar as England beat Croatia in the first game of the World Cup – June 17, 2026(Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach Plc)
He has decided to open the Three Lions, but is creating a ticketed event, with guests paying £7 for entry, which gets them a free drink. “We’ll have normal Sunday hours, and then tickets only from 11pm, but no tickets sold on Sunday itself, so the people who want to come to the Three Lions need to get a ticket on Friday or Saturday,” he said. “We’re expecting it to be busy, but we will have a much-reduced capacity,” he added.
Ashton Gate’s Independence Sports Bar is also opening for the game, with food and DJ entertainment. Bosses there said the bar will be serving until 2am, and going there will mean people can ‘cheer as loud as you want without waking your house up’. “We expect tickets to sell out in advance so don’t hang around, secure your spot early and follow England’s World Cup journey with us at Ashton Gate,” a spokesperson said.