England fans down 2 MONTHS worth of beer in one Euros weekend at German restaurant that became unlikely ‘Little Wembley’
BOOZY England fans kicked off Euro 2024 by downing two months worth of beer at a German restaurant in just one weekend.
Tens of thousands of fans descended on the city of Gelsenkirchen for the victorious Three Lions clash with Serbia on Sunday with one restaurant being dubbed “Little Wembley”.
GE Piazza was overrun with footy fanatics in the lead up to the blockbuster opening tie.
A whopping 7,500 beers were sunk in just two days as the quiet Italian restaurant quickly became the unofficial meet-up spot for fans.
Gelsenkirchen is famed for being an old school town with little to offer in terms of entertainment, pubs and clubs.
GE Piazza was left inundated with thirsty punters who ended the opening Euros weekend downing 60 kegs of beer.
The owners revealed on a typical weekend they only manage to sell around two kegs worth of beer per weekend.
The English are a thirsty bunch. You drink beer like we drink water
Deniz
The thrilled manager Umit Yavuz, 43, told the Telegraph: “This is as busy as we’ve been for a long, long time.
“Probably since the last time England played in Gelsenkirchen in 2006, but back then there were more pubs and bars in the city so this time around everyone has come here.
“I put on an England shirt to entice the supporters in. It’s always a popular move.”
Umit also made the clever choice to hang up the flags of all 24 teams in the competition outside his boozer in the hopes of attracting football fans.
The manager was also pleased the city managed to host England in the opening game as Umit said the English “really likes to drink”.
Co-manager and Umit’s sister Deniz, 38, was amazed by the atmosphere created outside her restaurant.
Fans first located “Little Wembley” on Friday before returning a day later to continue drinking.
By Sunday Deniz said they were packed for almost the whole day.
She added: “The English are a thirsty bunch. You drink beer like we drink water.”
Gareth Southgate‘s men ran out one nil winners in a lackluster match against tricky Serbian opposition.
The nervy game was watched by many supporters with a beer in hand as viral clips showed British beer gardens and fan zones erupting with flying booze after Jude Bellingham’s match winner.
Pubs and fan zones across the nation were rammed as supporters knocked back 30 million pints of beer.
Boozers and supermarkets enjoyed a £150million spending bonanza and brewery chiefs said 30million pints were downed, giving the sector a £24million boost.
A supermarket rush also saw sales of beer, pizzas, burgers, St George’s flags and even TVs soar with Tesco set to sell 33million packs of beer and cider in the coming month.
England, followed by their passionate army of fans, now head over to Frankfurt to play Denmark on Thursday as they try to secure qualification out of the groups with back-to-back wins.
It comes as the strength of booze inside the packed out Arena AufSchalke was a serious topic of debate for the days leading up to the game.
Despite being assured beer would be sold inside the ground, full strength beer at England vs Serbia was axed days before kick off.
It was replaced by low alcohol shandy amid threats of boozed-up ultras violence plaguing the match.
England fans were also left stranded in Gelsenkirchen for up to three hours following the Three Lions’ clash.
Thousands of supporters relied on trams and shuttle buses in order to get to and from the stadium but they were shockingly halted late in the day.
This organisational error is said to have caused numerous delays to the tram network, with many left stuck and unable to proceed with some deciding to walk home piled with booze and without a map.
England fans' pain at beer prices
By Anthony Chapman, Digital Sports Reporter
FANS were left saying “ouch” after discovering the price of beer ahead of England vs Serbia on Sunday.
The two sides faced each other in a heated Euro 2024 group stage opener which saw England win 1-0.
Police feared fights between sets of supporters in the build-up to the game.
And their worst fears were realised earlier on Sunday as yobs launched chairs in a bloody clash in the venue city of Gelsenkirchen.
The violence came about despite tournament chiefs deciding to pull full-strength beer ahead of the match.
Instead, low-alcohol replacements including shandy — a mixture of beer and lemonade — were put on sale around the city.
But despite the lager being weakened, the prices remained at a premium for parched fans.
Pictures from the area surrounding England’s match showed that the low-booze beer was still on sale at a hefty 7 euros, or £6, for a 500ml glass.
That’s roughly the same for a full pint of proper beer at a London pub.
And supporters did not appear to be happy about digging deep for half-quality drinks after they were branded “reasonable” by talkSPORT star Adrian Durham.
One said: “Ouch. Where do you get reasonable from?”
Another declared: “How can they charge the same for non-alcoholic?”