Unbelievably, England won through to the Rugby World Cup Final in Paris on Saturday.
For those licensees who provided television coverage in the lead-up to this event, Saturday was the culmination of their effort; the cherry on the cake. For sports-led bars the rugby has demonstrated the very best scenario they could wish for. As England's soccer squad founders against weak teams from eastern European states we'd struggle to identify on a map, our rugby team takes on the might of nations like France and Australia and beats them. There is lots of new-found pride in our achievements.
Never having run a sports-led bar I am conscious how much of a lead-up there is to these major competitions. I know of licensees who have spent thousands of pounds on state-of-the-art equipment and the necessary licences, which themselves aren't cheap. Through the turgid months they watch wretched contests which have few spectators as they try to maintain their profile as the premier sports bar venue in their district knowing full well that the European Cup, the World Cup, the Olympics or the Rugby World Cup are just around the corner and that is where the business is to be had. And how awful it must be when you watch your national side compete in one of these events and crash before your eyes in the very earliest part of the competition.
Just as bad must be the specialised sports bars that, having made provision to show each and every contest throughout the competition and endured the pain of watching inconsequential matches of no interest, now have to watch all the other bars in the neighbourhood bring in the largest televisions they can muster, balance them precariously on a chair on a table and attempt to take as much of the business as they can ~ fair-weather fans at best.
So for me, here at the Railway? Will I go back on my word and reinstate a television for the rugby final?
Well, it wasn't up to me ~ I went to Paris to watch the game on one of the big screens. But my staff here stayed true to my policy and the televisions remained elsewhere.
Now can someone explain to me why we had the quietest Saturday since we've been here?