For the first time ever, Wetherspoons will show football games for the Qatar World Cup.
The pub chain announced that most of its 850 pubs across the country will screen the tournament which kicked off this afternoon as Ecuador beat Qatar 2-0. However, the matches will be shown with subtitles rather than sound at the pubs, which are known for being sound free.
Wetherspoons boozers which don't have TV screens will not be screening games for that obvious reason. The move follows on from the existing set up where news is normally played quietly in the background outside of the World Cup season.
Read more: Persia Restaurant in Newcastle to serve up big screen World Cup action on Monday
Its decision to show the tournament with subtitles only was made out of respect for customers who don't follow the sport. It's estimated that throughout the country, two million punters visit Wetherspoons every week, with the pubs known for being free from music and background noise.
The Mirror reports that Tim Martin, the chain's boss, allegedly decided against playing music after reading an article by George Orwell which claimed that the perfect pub would occasionally be free from any background music, though the pubs do occasionally show sport with sound on.
The manager of each individual pub will get the final decision on whether or not the sound will be cranked up for England and Wales matches. Eddie Gershon, a spokesman for Wetherspoons' described the move as a far cry from two decades ago, when the World Cup was banned from all pubs.
He said: "Twenty years ago we’d have been the only pub group not showing World Cup matches. Then we had TV screens showing news inside but they are regular-sized tellies not big screens.
"Football isn’t massive for Wetherspoon’s but we are showing it this year as a certain amount of people want to watch it. There’s still space inside our pubs for people to go who aren’t interested, most pubs only tend to have two TVs."
Following today's opener, there are 63 remaining matches to be played before the final on December 18.
Where are you planning to watch the World Cup? Let us know!
Read next
World Cup 2022 end date, schedule for every group game and where to watch live
First images of how Newcastle's huge World Cup Fan Zone will look
Pubs giving away free pints to anyone who shares a surname with World Cup footballers
Alcohol laws in Qatar and rules tourists must follow ahead of World Cup 2022
World Cup squad numbers for Wilson, Bruno Guimaraes, Trippier, Pope, Schär and Garang
