Only five Wetherspoon pubs to remain open for 1am England v Mexico match

Only five out of JD Wetherspoon’s 800 pubs will stay open for the 1am England v Mexico match on Monday, it has been confirmed.

The Caterer was told the Bishops Mill in Durham, the Cooper Rose in Sunderland, the William Rufus in Carlisle, the Penderel’s Oak in London’s Holborn and the Solomon Culter in Birmingham are the only Wetherspoon pubs that will operate for the 6 July World Cup game.

It appears that most of these pubs already held a TEN (Temporary Event Notice), which the government advised pubs in England and Wales to apply for prior to the games starting in June.

A spokesperson for Wetherspoon confirmed the rest of its pubs will remain closed despite the blanket extension in opening hours for pubs announced by Keir Starmer yesterday afternoon (2 July).

In a hospitality debate held at the House of Commons yesterday, the parliamentary under-secretary of state for business and trade had initially stated that pubs would not be able to screen the 1am match due to a restriction in licensing rules.

But the outgoing prime minister later confirmed that pubs will be allowed to stay open until 5am on Monday as a result of emergency legislation.

The move has been met with criticism from the National Police Chiefs’ Council, which has raised concerns that the knock-out games tend to correlate with “an increase in violent incidents, particularly in the night time economy, and an increase in domestic abuse,” directly linked to alcohol consumption.

Chief constable Mark Roberts, NPCC lead for football policing, and (acting) chief constable Scott Green, NPCC lead for alcohol licensing and harm reduction, said: “The likely route for England progression has been known for a considerable time yet this late announcement leaves policing having to adapt our plans seeing officers working extended shifts which in turn takes them away from communities.

“From a policing perspective, our priority is to support people to enjoy the match safely and responsibly. We therefore ask those watching the game to be considerate: Drink within sensible limits, and behave in a way that keeps you, your friends, staff, officers and the wider public safe.”

Recent research from hospitality AI tech company Access Hospitality also showed that 85% of hospitality businesses will face staffing challenges on Sunday as a result of the blanket extension in pub opening hours.

However, some pub groups are embracing the 5am closing time, with Jared Sedgwick, director of operations at Marston’s, having stated: “More than 400 of our pubs were already set to open late for England v Mexico on Sunday night – and the government’s decision to ease licensing restrictions means that number is only going one way.

"When England are playing, a 1am kick-off is no barrier, and we’ll make sure fans have somewhere great to watch it together in the kind of big match atmosphere that’s hard to replicate at home.”

Photo: cktravels.com/Shutterstock