MORE than one in three football fans would be late for their own wedding to watch England play in the World Cup final, a survey has shown.
A survey carried out by sponsors of the Football League Trophy, Johnstone's Paint, showed 36% of people would be late for their own wedding to see England's football stars play in the final of a major international tournament.
Additionally, a startling 47% said they would delay their wedding if it meant seeing their hometown club team at a major Wembley final, such as the FA Cup.
Ben Wilde, brand and sponsorship manager of the company, said: "This season's Johnstone's Paint Trophy Final between Peterborough United and Chesterfield fell on Mother's Day and yet still attracted a very good crowd.
"We were intrigued to find out what lengths people would go to in order to watch their club or country play in a big game.
"The results make for very interesting reading and hopefully England can now give everyone plenty to cheer by enjoying an excellent run over the next few weeks in Brazil."
The survey, released to coincide with this summer's football feast in Brazil, also revealed some of the other landmark moments that supporters would miss to witness success on the pitch.
More than 15% would miss the birth of their child to watch England feature in what would be their biggest game for nearly 50 years, while 64% would be prepared to put pleasure before work by faking illness to get off work to avoid missing the big game.
The survey showed that 57% would happily be late for a business meeting if it clashed with England appearing in a significant final, while more than half would be prepared to snub a meeting with the Queen to collect an MBE if their club team were at Wembley.
In summary
The survey asked fans what lengths they would go to in order to see their country play in a major international final: 36% would be late for their own wedding; 15% would miss the birth of their child; 57% would be late for a business meeting; 67% would scrap a prior engagement with their partner; 25% would miss seeing their child playing in a junior final; 64% would throw a sickie and 15% would do none of the above.
It asked fans what lengths they would go to in order to see their club play at Wembley in a major domestic final: 47% would delay their wedding; 25% would miss their child's graduation; 54% would miss the chance of meeting the Queen; 16% would miss the birth of their child; 67% would throw a sickie; 60% miss a family event; 36% would let their best mate down by not performing best man duties and 8% would do none of the above.
