The England football team's efforts to qualify for the Euro 2008 tournament could have a significant impact upon pubs in the UK.
Regent Inns, which owns the Walkabout chain of bars, said in an interim statement that it "remains cautious" in its financial outlook for a number of reasons.
The firm noted that a slowdown in consumer spending, the "full impact" of the UK's smoking ban and the "uncertainty of England's participation in Euro 2008", are likely to be influential factors.
Meanwhile, Scottish pubs are expecting trade to pick up on November 17th when their national team takes on Italy in a crucial Euro 2008 qualifier, the Daily Record reports.
Kenny MacKenzie, operations director of Belhaven Breweries, said that the previous home game against Ukraine saw beer sales for the company's pubs increase by one-third.
"We expect it to go up to 50 per cent at least for the day of the Italy match," he told the newspaper.
