It’s Coming Home, On Your Wedding Day
- The 2024 Euros Finals is the most likely game to be ruined by a wedding, if England can make it again!
Could 2024 be the year that it finally comes home and England win the Euros? Well, data collected by football betting and news experts Footy Accumulators has shown that if England make it to the final, it’s the game fans will most likely miss due to a wedding!
The research analysed ONS wedding data from 1999 to 2019 to determine which days typically hold the most weddings. These dates were then compared to the dates of the 2024 Euro games to find out which games are most likely to be played on the day of a wedding, meaning that it’s more likely you’ll miss an England game if you’re in attendance.
Euro 2024
The Euro 2024 final will take place on 14th July; on that date, between 1999 and 2019, 24,350 weddings have been held – more than any other day during the tournament, making it the most likely game in the Euros to be ruined by a wedding, meaning some fans may be swapping the aisle of a stadium for the aisle of a church. Overall, the odds of being invited to a wedding on the day of a possible England game are around 63 to 1.
England are currently the joint favourite to win the competition, with France, World Cup runners-up, being the other favourite according to most bookmakers. If England do make it into the Round of 16 as group winners, that’s the next fixture at risk from a wedding as it takes place on 30th June, which is when historically 23,469 weddings have been held. However, if England qualify as runners-up then their fixture would take place on 29th June, which would be good news for some fans as 4,824 fewer weddings (18,645) have occurred on this date across the two decades of data.
Possible England games ranked by likelihood of a wedding invitation
|
Date |
Key fixtures |
Total weddings between 1999 and 2019 |
|
14/07 |
Euros final |
24,350 |
|
30/06 |
Possible England R16 |
23,469 |
|
16/06 |
England v Serbia |
22,014 |
|
25/06 |
England v Slovenia |
20,077 |
|
10/07 |
Possible England SF |
19,872 |
|
06/07 |
Possible England QF |
19,599 |
|
05/07 |
Possible England QF |
18,694 |
|
29/06 |
Possible England R16 |
18,645 |
|
09/07 |
Possible England SF |
18,378 |
|
20/06 |
England v Denmark |
16,305 |
England vs Serbia is being held on 16th June, which is the England game that is third most at risk of being ruined by having to attend a wedding, as 22,014 have been held on this data. With England vs Slovenia next at risk as 20,077 special days have taken place on this date.
The semi-finals take place on 9th and 10th July, and will be held in Munich and Dortmund. If England play on 10th July it’s more likely to clash with a wedding as 19,872 have been held on this date, while 9th July is slightly less likely with 18,378.
To advance to the semi-finals, England would have to win in the quarter-finals which will take place on 5th and 6th July. There are slightly higher odds of 6th July clashing with a wedding, as 19,599 marriages have taken place on this date, compared to the 18,694 held on 5th July.
The least likely England game to be ruined by a wedding is England vs Denmark on 20th June, a date that has held significantly fewer weddings than the Euros final with 16,305 over the 21 years that were analysed.
Other Competitions
If including club competitions, the most likely fixture a wedding may disrupt is the Europa Conference League final on 29th May 2024 (23,536 weddings in total), although the only English team still in the competition is Aston Villa so it’s only a small percentage of the population that may get unlucky and miss their first major European final in over 40 years.
Major club fixtures ranked by likelihood of a wedding invitation
|
Date |
Key fixtures |
Total weddings between 1999 and 2019 |
|
29/05 |
Europa Conference League Final |
23,536 |
|
01/06 |
Champions League Final |
22,577 |
|
25/05 |
FA Cup Final |
22,104 |
|
19/05 |
Premier League Final day |
18,557 |
|
22/05 |
Europa League Final |
17,318 |
The Champions League final (1st June) is the next major competition that is at risk from a wedding, with 22,577 weddings on this date between 1999 and 2019. Only Arsenal and Manchester City remain in the competition from England, after Newcastle and Manchester United both failed to qualify for the knock-out stages.
The FA Cup final is on 25th May this year, and is also at risk of being ruined by a wedding as 22,104 in total have been held on this date.
A spokesperson from Footy Accumulators commented: “Many football fans might say the best day of their life would be seeing their club or country winning major silverware, while others may say their wedding day, however, what happens when both of those worlds collide? This may be the case for many football fans in 2024 as plans coincide and many end up ‘double-booked’, it’s safe to say you don’t want to be sent off on your wedding day.
“The data shows that over the 21 years that were measured, the most popular date for a wedding has been 1st September, with 32,616 ceremonies, so fans might have to hold their breath until the fixtures for the 2024/25 fixtures are released, as some Super Sunday plans might be interrupted.”
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