The Women’s World Cup has kicked off Down Under, but the time difference means fans back home will need to be awake in good time if they hope to catch any football.
Australia and New Zealand are jointly hosting this year’s Fifa World Cup, with matches taking place in both Auckland and Sydney, usually in the evenings local time – which is means mornings in the UK.
However, the morning kick-offs have not stopped fans in the UK from making the most of the experience – complete with drinks – often before 10am.
Lioness megafans are embracing the early rises, gathering throughout the country to watch and cheer on the England team.
Sophie Whitby, the captain of Wythenshawe Town Football Club, based near Manchester, will be watching together with the rest of her team at their club house. “Our club house are putting on breakfast to go and watch it. We’ll get a bit of food in us before we have a drink,” she told i.
Since Ms Whitby, 30, became captain last season, her team has experienced many changes and new players, so she believes that watching the Lionesses together will help them boost their own team spirit.
“Watching it together will bring us all closer and help us get to know each other,” she said. “There will be highs and lows watching this World Cup.”
The women, who have set up a sweepstake, also watched the Euros together in 2022. “It’s a good community when you’re with the team,” said Ms Whitby. “There’s also the kids from the younger teams so it’s good. It builds the atmosphere.”
She is hoping she can watch all the matches but with the time difference, she admits that her work as a paramedic may have to take priority over watching all the games.
Some superfans have flown to Australia to watch the matches in person. Rachel O’Sullivan, the co-founder of GirlsontheBall, an online football platform, has been to the two previous World Cups as a fan but this is the first for which Ireland, her home country, has qualified.
“The World Cup is very special to me,” she said. “I’ll be watching all of England and Ireland’s matches live and then a few others throughout the knockout stages. The rest will all be on TV or in fan zones around Australia.”
Ms O’Sullivan, who also hosts the podcast Upfront with Tottenham, and Chloe Morgan, the goalkeeper for Crystal Palace, flew out to Australia before the World Cup to do some travelling with family. However, the priority remains how the Lionesses and Ireland perform.
Ms Morgan says the atmosphere in Australia is exciting. “Sydney was in great form the day before and the day of the opening game. Lots of fans, lots of things to do,” she said. “The atmosphere in the stadium in the Australia v Ireland game was incredible. The Irish fans were superb.”
Other clubs will be corralling their members to watch England play, with the Lionesses’ first match against Haiti on Saturday morning.
The sport education organisation the Girls United Football Association is hosting a watching party for the younger age groups to celebrate England playing on Saturday.
“We will be walking from our pitch to the watch party venue tomorrow all together,” said Josh Emerson, the Marketing & Communications Manager.
The girls, aged between seven and 13, will be watching the game. “We did some watch parties for the Euros last year and they were a big success,” Mr Emerson told i.
For regular spectators across England, pubs are opening early to show matches, with some even holding World Cup brunches or other celebrations. In London, the Junction in Harrow, The Perky Nel in Clapham, Broadleaf Sports bar and Restaurant in the City and Long Arm, Shoreditch have all extended their opening hours so fans can watch the matches with a drink and food. The Regent in Balham, south London, is holding Women’s World Cup brunches and the Hiver Taproom is showing evening replays on match days so people can come together after work to see the action.
O’Neills branches in Birmingham and Printworks in Manchester are both showcasing the whole tournament; in Durham, Lioness bottomless brunches are being help in The Library pub, while in Newcastle, sports bar Pacific House will be showing the matches on all 13 of their screens.
Meanwhile Sunderland street food venue Stack Seaburn has launched a programme of exercise-themed activities to mark the start of the World Cup in a designated fan zone. All the matches will be shown on the big screen and there will be appearances from celebrity fitness influencers like Callum Best.
Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of UKHospitality, said: “Even with the time difference during this tournament, venues across the country are gearing up for a busy tournament with the nation cheering England on once again.
“Whether it’s breakfast deals or opening slightly earlier, there are plenty of initiatives that pubs are rolling out to welcome fans in to cheer on the Lionesses. We hope this can also deliver a welcome boost in sales for our pubs.”
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