Lockdown has ruined the enjoyment of football for 75 per cent of football fans in the U.K., according to a new survey by global investment platform eToro.
72 per cent of fans don’t want to focus on anything else whilst watching football, but with distractions getting in the way at home, it’s clear that fans are missing the traditional matchday experience.
Despite the Government announcing a return to grounds for a small number of football fans, supporters have all spent the last month at home with many fans still under strict lockdown measures. 56 per cent of fans said that their household has been busier at home during lockdown, and 51 per cent of fans said this has led them to feel more claustrophobic as a result.
A majority (55 per cent) of fans agree there are more distractions at home when trying to watch the game, with 56 per cent saying the distractions make it harder to focus.
One of the main frustrations faced by fans was missing a game’s big moments, with 73 per cent saying they had missed key incidents as they were trying to do two things at once.
The research found the main distractions at home are: life admin (33 per cent), their phone (33 per cent), answering the door (30 per cent) and pets (27 per cent).
England, Chelsea, West Ham and Liverpool legend, Joe Cole said, ““I definitely share the fans’ frustrations with trying to enjoy watching football during lockdown. I’m trying to watch the game and there’s all these distractions – the phone’s going off, I’ve got to answer the door, kids running around – and I’m missing a lot of the key moments! The survey shows that we really are bad at doing two things at once.”
The research revealed that crowd atmosphere is what football fans miss the most, with 73 per cent of fans missing the terraces, and 49 per cent missing watching with other fans. Only 13 per cent of fans think watching at home is better than watching in the stadium.
When it comes to Premier League club fans who have been the most affected by lockdown, Everton top the table. 92 per cent of Toffees fans said they aren’t enjoying the games in lockdown.
The top 5 Premier League club fans most affected by lockdown
- Everton (92 per cent)
- West Brom (90.4 per cent)
- Leicester (81 per cent)
- Liverpool (80.8 per cent)
- Leeds (76.9 per cent)
Despite West Brom fans being the most distracted at home by their pets (42 per cent), most club fans said it was life admin that was getting in the way of watching the game.
Top 5 clubs most distracted by life admin at home
- Burnley (50 per cent)
- Everton (36.4 per cent)
- Southampton (36.1 per cent)
- Liverpool (34.1 per cent)
- Leicester (34 per cent)
Dylan Holman, Global Sponsorships Senior Manager at eToro, added: “Our new ‘two things at once’ campaign showcases that you can’t normally multitask, except with our platform’s CopyTrader function.
“This means you can copy top performing investors, so when they make a trade, you can do the same automatically, leaving you free to carry on enjoying watching the match.”
The campaign was launched today with a video from England and Chelsea legend Joe Cole. You can view it here [INSERT LINK]
eToro are sponsor of six Premier League football clubs – Crystal Palace, Everton, Leicester City, West Bromwich Albion, Burnley and Southampton