Football fans spend £260 million on World Cup patch-ups

Football fans across the UK are preparing to sacrifice their hard-earned cash as 2.7 million of them say they will compensate their partner with various gifts and gestures for the time they spend watching the World Cup.

New research from Santander Current Accounts reveals that Brits will collectively spend £260 million on flowers, restaurant meals, holidays and other peace-offerings in a bid to make up for neglecting their other half while watching Rooney and Messi strut their stuff in the Rainbow nation.

Millions of football fans are braced for off-field disputes of the domestic variety, with 4.1 million supporters (10 per cent) predicting that watching the footy will be the cause of an argument between them and their partner.

In an effort to patch things up, 2.7 million Brits are planning to grovel once the World Cup is over by doing extra housework (31 percent), allowing their partner to watch their favourite TV programme (23 per cent), or doing more in the garden (20 per cent). A further 15 per cent plan to make peace by helping out more with the children and 11 per cent say they will atone for their World Cup box watching by sacrificing time that would otherwise be spent with friends.

Of the millions of us that will be compensating our partner, many will be splashing the cash on gifts, spending an average of £96 each and an impressive £260 million in total. An astonishing 100,000 very generous football fans will spend over £500 on peace-offerings, including holidays, dining out and flowers. Santander's research shows that female footy followers will also be paying out, with nearly 1 million (931,334) women saying they expect to be compensating their partners after watching the games, spending an average of £67 each on gifts. Men plan to spend £111 on average repairing the damage done by their soccer squabbles.

Andy Smith, spokesperson for Santander Current Accounts commented:   "Emotions run wild during World Cup time, but everything comes at a price, particularly for those with partners who'd rather not have to watch a whole month of football.  As they're spending nearly a £100 on average, the cost of World Cup patch ups can't be underestimated.   The money to pay for these patch ups could be found through switching current accounts to Santander, which, if they do it at the moment could provide them £100 bonus for switching, plus up to £125 interest in the first year."