Football
Euro 2024 poll shows Irish football fans secretly supporting England
Euro 2024 kicks off tomorrow and sadly the Republic of Ireland will have to be content with watching proceedings from afar having failed to qualify for the tournament.
But one former Boy in Green will be there with Declan Rice set to play a key role in England’s midfield and a new poll has revealed most Irish people will be supporting the Three Lions this summer. It seems age old tensions with our near neighbours have eased somewhat with research carried out by OnePoll for BoyleSports showing England topping the poll of who Irish fans will be supporting at the festival of European football in Germany.
England came out on top with 12% of the 1,000 people surveyed saying they will be cheering on Gareth Southgate’s side. Surprisingly, our Celtic cousins Scotland were backed by just 7%, behind Spain (10%), France (10%) and Portugal (9%).
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Aside from Rice, who earned three caps for Ireland before switching his international allegiances to the country of his birth, the England squad contains a number of players who could have lined out in green. Captain and all time record goal scorer Harry Kane, Real Madrid wonderkid Jude Bellingham and Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher all could have qualified to play for the Boys in Green while former Irish under-21 star Jack Grealish was surprisingly omitted from Southgate’s final squad.
A Boylesports spokesperson said: “Football can be a stressful watch at times and Republic of Ireland fans in particular will be suffering from fear of missing out as the Euros kick off. We didn’t expect so many to be jumping on the England bandwagon, but maybe they are thinking with their heads and not their hearts when trying to land the winner.”
However despite the backing for England, there are not many Irish fans who believe England will end their 58 year wait for a major tournament victory in men’s international football. Just 7% believe the Three Lions are going to get their hands on the trophy, with a leading 34% backing Gareth Southgate’s side to be sent packing in the semi-finals.
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