To say the anti-football lot need to calm down a little?

I’m not surprised at that given a football season only lasts nine months of the year and they don’t play six days a week.

And actually you were wrong here. The 2015 report showed more people saw a show at the theatre in the UK last year than watched a live football match in the English Premier League, English Football League and Scottish Premiership combined, not just one.

In 2025, over 37 million visited professional theatres in the UK. That's excluding all amateur venues and theatre performances in arts centres.

Context: all sports combined in the UK attracted 79.4 million.

Let's not forget that there are lots of season ticket holders that go to every or most matches, which actually brings the number of individuals down. Yes, some people go to the theatre a few times a year but there are no season tickets; West Ham has 40,000 season ticket holders alone.

Somehow I don't think regional theatres will quite make up the difference bearing in mind the annual figures, just by adding in the EFL attendances takes you well over 30 million people a year.

Do you still think more people go to the theatre than watch football (which is what you said)?

I loathe football but my colleagues are here today and my customers are turning up so all is well. I would be ranting a bit if colleagues had called in sick and caused work issues but lucky they are all responsible albeit very tired.

What a ridiculous and unfounded statement 😂. Have you seen the prices of tickets for football these days? The prices of the kits? If you think football is a working class sport then you clearly don’t follow it. The stadium seats are not filled with the working class. What a reach!

I really hope we win, I like the vibe even if I don’t care for the sport personally, but the attitude of the OP and some others on this thread are fucking terrible and not very ‘fun’ or ‘unifying’ at all.

Ten years old? You need to Google better.

In 2024 17.1 million went to watch a show in the West End of London while 15.6 million went to a Premier League football match around the country.

Yes, you're right, there are the lower leagues, but by the same token there are regional theatres too, those countless amateur theatres and groups in village halls.

Those West End figures cover just 40 venues. Yes, 6-8 performances a week but the smallest PL stadium seats 11300 people. Many West End theatres won't get that number of people through the doors in a week and when you compare the big stadiums, there's no comparison. They fill several times more on one Saturday than the largest WE venue can in a week.

Where did I say it's acceptable? Particularly in relation to the DV part of my post you chose to pick out?

The data (which is more than a decade old) showed that more people went to the theatre than watched one division (the premiership) of football in a year.

That ignores the fact there are actually 4 professional divisions in England, several semi pro divisions, countless amateur teams, a number of very well supported cup competitions and international matches. Oh and the fact that most football teams play once a week for part of the year and theatres are open every day, often twice a day, all year round.

A lot of primary schools will indeed be focusing on play and treats like movies today, to compensate for the fatigue of both the kids and the staff. Especially as it’s a hot one in most places!

Get a grip. The pearl clutching on this thread is reaching ridiculous heights.

That’s because they are not as popular as football.

Perimenopausal women up and down the country are driving quite capably surviving on hardly any sleep. The drama 😆 🤣

And if that poster is a care worker/nurse/surgeon/truck driver who accidentally kills someone's loved one because they're too tired to concentrate at work, I suppose that's OK because it was England and it's important?

Cracking up at the poster expecting London to stay silent during an important match. You choose where you live, so you have to take the rough with the smooth.

Exactly this.

I'm quite into gaming, but I don't think anyone would find it acceptable if I stayed up for a 1 am drop and then screeched my way through the first playthrough and ended the playthrough by loudly singing the theme tune to the game whilst managing not to hit a single note.

Well, I live opposite one of the most (if not the most) flagged buildings in London. There was massive screen outside, and shouting and screaming ended at 4am. My alarm rings at 5:30. I wish I also had a choice of NOT knowing what the score was, and generally not knowing about football. I didn't choose to stay up until 4, yet still feel like a zombie thanks to someone else's "consideration ".

As for the DV connection, I agree that when violent men watch football and likely consume far too much alcohol, then DV increases. The root cause is still violent men, very sadly (I'm a DV survivor myself) these men get even angrier at football and DV increases. I don't know what the solution is, unless men stopping hitting women.

100% agree that the fundamental problem with DV is the men who do it, and also with the good things clubs do in the community.

The downside of football specifically is that it has become in our culture a sort of Saturnalia where rules don't apply any more and all the normal controls and brakes on male behaviour especially come off.

Emotions are wilder, drinking is harder, bad behaviour is acceptable, because hey, it's football and passions run high.

I haven’t watched any of it- it’s not difficult to ignore.

Olympics when that’s in an inconvenient time zone as well.

I’m indifferent to football, will probably watch the final if England get that far but that’s about it. It does annoy me that the country seems to stop for very minor matches and that there is an assumption that everyone should be interested just because some people are.

Fantastic post. We should all be a little more toolioo 😍

Your sample 'most girls' and 'a very large number of boys' is not borne out by the ones going to the local High School and Primary School this morning, they generally looked beyond excited and pleased with the result, if they had watched the match live I am jealous of their stamina!

That poster I quoted has positioned everyone who doesn't want to watch football 24/7 as 'middle class' and 'virtue signalling'.

The prejudice is isn't with me.

You know as well as I do that many of the posts on here are based in snobbery. The mention of professions, tennis, rugby etc.

As for the DV connection, I agree that when violent men watch football and likely consume far too much alcohol, then DV increases. The root cause is still violent men, very sadly (I'm a DV survivor myself) these men get even angrier at football and DV increases. I don't know what the solution is, unless men stopping hitting women.

What doesn't get talked about is all the incredible work football community organisations do. Some examples of what my - small - EFL club does through programmes and events:

Supports young adults who aren't in work

Gets south Asian women and girls into sport

Delivers an intervention programme for primary children with emotional and social issues or at risk of exclusion

Supports women to improve their mental health

Get school children of all ages active by delivering sessions at schools

Runs schemes for excluded children

Gets children age 9 - 10 moving and learning.

Holding rehabilitation courses for people diagnosed with cancer

Running holiday clubs

This kind of stuff happens every day at every football club in the country, but it never gets mentioned on here.

My dad was a builder, my mum was a cleaner, we never had foreign holidays (didn't have a UK one until I was 13). Our house was rented. We're as working class as you can get and my dad had no interest in football either, nor did four of his other five brothers.

It doesn't have to be about class at all.