Anyone But England For Irish Football Fans

Most Irish football fans would prefer anyone but England to win the World Cup, a new poll revealed today.

More than 53% of people say they will not be supporting Sven's men in Germany, a poll of more than 2,500 people carried out on Irish radio station Today FM showed. But the survey found 47% said they would not mind seeing England win this World Cup.

Even with Ireland's footballers not taking part in this year's World Cup, bookmaker William Hill is predicting Irish punters will bet up to €50m on this year's matches in Germany.

Tony Kenny, William Hill's Irish spokesman, said: "To be honest, I'm surprised that 47% of Irish football fans will be supporting England. I would have thought the figure would be a lot lower."

Kenny said there had been major interest already in the World Cup in Ireland. "Even though the Irish nation won't be supporting David Beckham and Co at this year's World Cup finals, most of the bets we've taken in Ireland are on England. Which could suggest that Irish punters are punting with their heads rather than their hearts," he said. "Maybe if they do win, we might hear a lot less about 1966, 'the hand of God' and German penalty takers."

In the discussion on Today FM radio station, many people said they would be supporting Poland in the World Cup due to the large number of Polish workers in Ireland.

Some of the bets being taken by the bookies include England to lose all three Group games at 200/1, all three English squad keepers to be used at 25/1 and an England player to be sent off for diving at 8/1.