WITH football fever building for England’s opening match in the Euros against Croatia tomorrow at Wembley, York is gearing up for what is hoped will be a memorable tournament for the Three Lions.

Football fans will be hoping for some sort of normality following the Covid 19 restrictions, while the hospitality trade will be hoping that Gareth Southgate can lead his team to glory and give everyone a timely boost.

One of the larger venues to be screening every game live is The Old Bank in Lendal. It will be showing games on an outdoor TV, two large projectors and 24 TVs within the premises.

“We have an online booking system in place, and I urge anyone wanting to come along to watch the games to book early,” said duty manager Elliott Gledhill.

“We are pretty much fully booked. But there are still places available for some games. And we have an app, My Pub, which we are encouraging customers outdoors to use.”

Elliott is hoping it will be a good boost for the business after recent Covid restrictions put a dent in the hospitality business. Yates in Stonegate, in York, which is owned by the same company, will be using the same app.

The Terrace sports bar, in Fossgate, boasts 13 screens including one in its beer garden. And the pub has just opened another site, The Nags Head in Heworth, which has eight screens.

Owner Paul Gardner said: “We don’t have a booking system, so it’s first come, first served. We have installed thermal imaging cameras at the doors so customers and fans will be as safe as possible.

“We have a marquee with a big screen but the Euros are a small part of what we are doing as we’re also showing Royal Ascot, York Today, Super League and Formula One.”

Tom McKenzie, co-founder and director of Spark:York in Piccadilly, is also ready for the big games.

He said: “We’re showing most of the games that are on. The England games are the main ones, while the other games will be shown on the big screen but without sound. We sold the first tickets on our Instagram and they went pretty quickly, and the tickets for the first Scotland game will go live at 5pm Monday. Ticket are sold per table, and it works out about £7 per person.”

The Red Lion in Merchantgate has installed a big screen especially for the Euros and is charging fans, in groups of up to six, £20 a table to watch England’s games.