While the UK has announced that pubs will be allowed to stay open until 5am on Monday to let football fans watch England play Mexico, local pubs are unable to accommodate the 1am kick off time.
In Guernsey, pubs were invited to apply to the Liquor Licensing Court for permission to stay open until 2am during the tournament.
One local landlady, who did not want to be named, said that the timings of the football games in the knockout stages and the court sessions meant that only a speculative application could be made.
Liquor licensing court takes place on a Tuesday morning and applications must be made in advance, on the previous Thursday.
She said that she enquired on Tuesday, before England’s Wednesday match against DR Congo, because people had asked whether the pub would be open for the next round against Mexico, which kicks off at 1am on Sunday morning. But at that stage nobody knew if England would be playing.
‘I would have to pay £170 for a “just in case” licence and then if England didn’t get through and I didn’t want to open, I wouldn’t get that money back.
‘It’s absolutely ludicrous,’ she said.
‘The whole of the UK gets to open until 5am, but in Guernsey they said it’s too late to do anything. We’re not generally a football pub and didn’t think anyone would want us to show it at 1am, but people have been asking for it and wanted to be able to come to watch.’
Other local pubs spoken to by the Guernsey Press said they would not be opening for the 1am kick off due to licensing restrictions, though they felt that they were missing out on the business from football fans who wanted to watch the game.
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