What a Difference a Recession Makes

2006

A two-year-old became an unwitting victim of the World Cup hooligan crackdown after he was ordered to take off his England football top whilst having lunch in a high chair - in case he sparked trouble.

Charlie Elliot was sitting happily at Lloyds No1 in Leicester waiting for his food to be served when his parents were told they would have to leave the pub and would be barred if they didn't take the shirt off.

After an argument the pub manager agreed he could keep it on, but only if his parents turned it inside out...

A spokesman for Lloyds No1 owners, Wetherspoons, said: "We have had a policy of no football colours for a couple of years and it has contributed to order in the pub.

"It prevents trouble and it stops children or their parents being victims of verbal abuse. The policy is applied in all cases."

2010

JD Wetherspoon plans to explicitly market its pubs as the place in which to watch the World Cup.

The company is set to screen most games — and certainly the England ones — at the majority of its sites, said spokesman Eddie Gershon.

It’s in contrast to the 2006 World Cup, when managers were given the choice about whether to screen games — and the sound was turned down. “This will be our biggest attack on the World Cup,” said Gershon.

“It’s something the company is taking very seriously. It will be the first time during a World Cup that our pubs will all have TVs in situ.”