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euro 2024

A third of Brits plan to dodge work to watch England v Demark, new poll shows

A third of Brits plan to dodge work to watch England v Demark, new poll shows
England train the day after narrow win over Serbia
SNTV / VideoElephant

England's next Euros match is against Denmark on Thursday, and one in three (30 per cent) Brits are planning to pull a sickie or make an excuse to watch the action.

A new nationwide poll fromAmazon Fire TVfound that football fans in London (51 per cent), Leicester (41 per cent), Nottingham (32 per cent), Manchester (31 per cent) and Cambridge (31 per cent) are most likely to develop a ‘sniffle’ on Thursday morning, along with fans in Cardiff (30 per cent) and Glasgow (29 per cent).

And if you work with Gen Z and Millennials, you might want to arrange cover now as they are the most likely to call in sick (46 per cent and 35 per cent respectively).

Over two-thirds (69 per cent) will be watching from home, while a third (32 per cent) are planning to get friends and family together to watch the game as a group, as football fans can tune into the tournament via Amazon Fire TV throughout the summer.

Nearly four in 10 footy fans (39 per cent) also say they will be following the action on social media through club accounts, while one in ten (10 per cent) will be checking in with various fan accounts on social media to get immediate reactions to the game.

Sicknote cities for England vs. Denmark

  1. London - 51%
  2. Leicester - 41%
  3. Nottingham - 32%
  4. Manchester - 31%
  5. Cambridge - 31%
  6. Cardiff - 30%
  7. Glasgow - 29%
  8. Oxford - 28%
  9. Leeds - 26%
  10. Birmingham - 26%

Over half (56 per cent) say they love celebrating big tournament moments with family and friends so much so that expectations are high for Southgate’s men - four in ten (39 per cent) think England will go ALL the way to the Men’s final this summer, with 18 to 29-year-olds the most confident (46 per cent).

A further quarter (23 per cent) are convinced that this is the year that football will FINALLY come home and that the Three Lions will lift the Euro’s trophy. Again young Brits are the most confident in the team with more than one in three (35 per cent) believing that Kane and the boys will bring it home, followed by 30 to 44 year olds (30 per cent).

With such high expectations, it’s no surprise that Gareth Southgate (37 per cent) has been voted the greatest manager of the England men’s team ever.

World Cup Winner Sir Alf Ramsey, who managed England from 1963 to 1974 came in second place with 29 percent, followed by Sir Bobby Robson who was in charge from 1982 to 1990 and came close to making the final of Italia 90.

Terry Venables, the boss from 1994 to 1996, and mastermind of England’s run to the semi-finals of Euro96, picked up 18 per cent of the vote, just ahead of Sven-Göran Eriksson (2001-2006) who got 15 per cent.

Graham Taylor, once portrayed as a turnip in the press got just six per cent of the vote, while unfortunately, Sam Allardyce was the lowest regarded manager with just three per cent.

When it comes to what makes a good England manager, 39 per cent said it’s about being able to relate to the players, 38 per cent said they needed to be tactically astute and 30 per cent said they need to have passion for the country they are managing.

Interestingly, only one in five (19 per cent) say that it’s necessary to play attractive football to be a good manager, and whilst English fans love to moan about the team, only 10 per cent say they believe they could do a better job than any England manager.

Emma Gilmartin, Director of Fire TV and Fire Tablets Europe said: "With easy access to all the major football streaming services, Fire TV provides an intuitive way for fans to catch their favourite matches from the comfort of their living rooms."

England fans retain faith in the nation’s most successful goal scorer with 57 per cent believing captain, Harry Kane, will win the coveted Golden Boot.

Four in ten (41 per cent) are backing Kylian Mbappé to nab the mantle of Player of the Tournament, with England’s Jude Bellingham (37 per cent) and Harry Kane (36 per cent) as close rivals.

England's greatest managers voted for by fans

  1. Gareth Southgate (2016-present) - 37%
  2. Alf Ramsey (1963-1974) - 29%
  3. Bobby Robson (1982-1990) - 26%
  4. Terry Venables (1994-1996) - 18%
  5. Sven-Göran Eriksson (2001-2006) - 15%
  6. Kevin Keegan (1999-2000) - 10%
  7. Roy Hodgson (2012-2016) - 9%
  8. Glenn Hoddle (1996-1999) - 8%
  9. Fabio Capello (2008-2012) - 8%
  10. Graham Taylor (1990-1993) - 6%
  11. Don Revie (1974-1977) - 5%
  12. Steve McClaren (2006-2007) - 5%
  13. Ron Greenwood (1977-1982) - 5%
  14. Walter Winterbottom (1946 - 1962) - 5%
  15. Sam Allardyce (2016) - 3%

Football fans can watch the Men’s European football tournament via Amazon Fire TV from Friday June 14.

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