Euro 2020: if England gets beaten, so will she

By Jack Ramage

Published Jul 3, 2021 at 09:00 AM

Reading time: 2 minutes

As chants of ‘it’s coming home’ echo throughout stadiums, crowded pubs and car radios, countless silent victims of domestic abuse will be coming home to something far more sinister. I’m not writing this piece to villainise the sport as a whole. I love football: it’s rich working-class history; it’s the power to bring communities together; its ability to bring nations together—I mean, it was the one thing that briefly stopped brutal trench warfare on 1914’s Christmas Day. But it’s also important to remember that, back in 2014, when England lost a game, incidents of domestic violence increased by 38 per cent. Even more shockingly, when they won, the number still increased by 26 per cent.

The worrying data

This was data taken from a study by Lancaster University which measured instances of domestic violence when England participated in the 2014 World Cup. But don’t think the same thinking process can’t be applied to the Euro 2020 too. Already, it’s estimated that 6.2 per cent of adults in England and Wales aged 16 to 59 have experienced domestic abuse in the year ending in March 2018—women are almost twice as likely to have reported the experience at 7.9 per cent than men at 4.2 per cent. This number is likely to increase during the current European football tournament, and future international competitions, unless something changes.

The destructive influence of alcohol

That being said, is the link between football and domestic abuse strong? Or are there other confounding variables that may influence the statistics? A more recent study conducted by the University of Warwick examined the issue in more detail and with a larger sample size to pin down what might be driving the association between national football tournaments and domestic abuse.

In a blog post for the London School of Economics, Anna Trendl, who is a scientist on the team at the University of Warwick, wrote: “While the link between football fandom and domestic abuse is complex, experts have long pointed to alcohol as an important factor in this relationship. Sport spectatorship and alcohol consumption are inextricably linked, and this is especially true in the context of English football fandom.”

And further data hints towards this being true. On the day of England’s quarter-final victory against Sweden in the 2018 World Cup, hospitals up and down the country reported a record number of alcohol poisoning cases. Several other studies have also highlighted the link between alcohol intoxication and violent behaviour. A report published by the Office of National Statistics in 2018 found that victims of violent crime in England and Wales believed that their perpetrator was under the influence of alcohol in 39 per cent of cases. This leads Trendl to argue that, although alcohol may not be the direct cause of violent behaviour, it acts as an aggravating factor by lowering inhibitions.

In the study, Trendl and her team analysed ten year’s worth of crime data from the West Midlands Police. They focused on England’s national football matches in this period, finding a 47 per cent increase in alcohol-related domestic abuse cases on days when the England teams won in a tournament and an 18 per cent increase on the days after an England match.

From the data, they argued that the link between England football victories and the increase in alcohol-related domestic abuse is likely to be causal. First off, on the days where England won matches, they saw a rise in only alcohol-related cases and not the control group. Likewise, they reported a clear pattern of increase in abuse—which started three hours before a match and peaked during the following hours before gradually declining. This highlights that there is a consistent link between football games and alcohol-related behaviour, a pattern that is replicated across different regions of the country.

Trendl writes: “The exact mechanism by which national football victories lead to an increase in the number of domestic abuse cases is evidently complex, and much of this remains unexplored. What this evidence shows us is that alcohol plays a key role in this relationship.”

So, while football is waking up to political issues such as taking the knee for the Black Lives Matter movement, the issue of domestic abuse, fuelled by alcohol but intertwined with the English football culture should also be brought into public discourse. By all means, enjoy the beautiful game—I’m rooting for England all the way—but this urgently important issue of domestic abuse needs to be addressed.

Keep On Reading

By Jennifer Raymont

Pregnant Rihanna might be about to burst, but we’ll miss her iconic pregnancy fits

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Netflix takes things too far with new AI reality TV show Deep Fake Love

By Charlie Sawyer

How to take your landlord to court: Find out what you can sue them for and the potential risks

By Charlie Sawyer

Florida plans to expand Ron DeSantis’ Don’t Say Gay law into workplaces and ban use of preferred pronouns

By Charlie Sawyer

No, controversial comedian Matt Rife didn’t compare himself to Bin Laden

By Charlie Sawyer

The Guardian claims Greta Gerwig sold her indie soul by directing Barbie

By Charlie Sawyer

How to get a refund from your university

By Charlie Sawyer

My chat with stand-up comedian Stef Dag, the Hot & Single host getting people laid in NYC

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Documentary photographer Valentina Sinis tells all about the Iraqi Kurdistan women burning themselves

By Charlie Sawyer

Paris Hilton spills the tea on being a socialite and mum of 2 on new Call Her Daddy podcast

By Charlie Sawyer

Is John Pork calling or is he dead? Chatting with the creator of the viral meme that had us all hooked

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Sophie Turner and Taylor Swift hit the town following messy split from Joe Jonas

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

UK museum reclassifies Roman Emperor Elagabalus as a transgender woman

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Viral TikTok attenzione pickpocket lady Monica Poli’s political allegiance exposed

By Mason Berlinka

Watch video of Tyson Fury’s dad trying to fight KSI at boxing press conference

By Mason Berlinka

Who is TikToker Nekoglai? The Moldovan streamer tortured by Russia paying tribute to Ukrainian soldiers

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

From its lack of popularity with young voters to the Nikki Haley wild card, the GOP has had a tough week

By Charlie Sawyer

Who is Alabama Barker, and why does the internet think the Kardashians hate her?

By Mason Berlinka

Watch this viral French advert for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup that has bamboozled fans

By Alma Fabiani

Conspiracy theorists believe Amber Heard’s daughter Oonagh is ex Elon Musk’s love child