The act of throwing a pint of beer into the air when the national team score is as English as fish and chips and the 3pm blackout, but why?
England supporters at Flat Iron Square in London celebrate Kieran Trippier's goal vs Croatia at the 2018 World Cup(Image credit: Getty Images)
At 7.05pm on July 11, 2018 moisture filled the air across England, and it wasn’t low pressure from the North Atlantic sweeping in to ruin yet another English summer.
No, Kieran Trippier had just scored a freekick to put England in front vs Croatia in the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup and large portions of the 26.6 million people watching indulged in a new crazy sweeping the nation: pint chucking.
I was watching in Central London at Flat Iron Square, arguably the birthplace of the football pint chuck. The casual food and drink venue was transformed into a World Cup bearpit during the summer of 2018, and it was absolutely fantastic.
The setup was perfect: space, food stalls, transport links, multiple bars, multiple screens including a giant one in front of an open-air space that allowed for maximum orbit when launching your pint.
But why would anyone launch a full pint? Especially in London where the price continues to creep worryingly away from £5, and closer to 10.
Read on for my theory...
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The day before England played Panama in their second group game at World Cup 2018 a heatwave hit Britain. Average temperatures were the highest on record at 17.2 degrees Celsius.
Technology was advancing at breakneck speed: the concept of high definition had lept from the living room to the outdoor screen meaning you could visit a fan park and watch football on a giant screen, with audible commentary, and the picture didn’t resemble EA Sports FIFA ‘98 Road To The World Cup.
Promoters and venues took advantage of this. Little did they know they would hit upon a business model where people would pay in, pay for drinks, throw them in the air then promptly order more.
Plastic glasses have always been a thing, but they play an important role in the phenomenon of England game pint chucking. Watching football en masse necessitates the plastic glass, for obvious reasons.
Flat Iron Square in London, arguably the birth place of the England football pint lob (Image credit: Getty Images)
Still with me? Just a few more factors to run through.
Social media. Images and footage of fans throwing pints during Russia 2018 went viral. They were in the news, on Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp groups were full of them. The England team's official social media account shared them. England players in Russia were shown them.
Fans around the country who were gathered in similar Fan Parks wanted in on the fun. When England scored at the 2018 World Cup and you were watching at a busy Fan Park, the thought crossed your mind: “Harry Kane is probably going to see this”. Before you knew it you were drenched in Heineken.
FourFourTwo's Deputy Editor Matthew Ketchell at Flat Iron Square, London with friends after watching the 2018 World Cup game England vs Tunisia (Image credit: @Ketchell)
To recap the formula: hot weather, high definition big screens, the safety net of plastic glass, social media. Now for the secret ingredient: euphoria.
Prior to England’s 2018 World Cup run, there hadn’t been anything worth chucking a pint in the air for when watching the Three Lions at a major tournament.
MaybeDaniel Sturridge’s injury-time winner vs Wales at Euro 2016 (but Gareth Bale and co very much had the last laugh that summer), Raheem Sterling ‘scoring’ at Brazil 2014? (Replays showed he hit the side netting). There was nothing good to pint lob over at Euro 2012, or South Africa 2010. In 2008 England didn’t qualify, Germany 2006 was a huge let-down. You have to go back to a pre-social media era to find a moment at a summer football tournament worth losing a pint over.
Not much can match the euporia of celebrating an important England goal, knowing most of the country is doing the same thing. Add in friends, family and balding strangers and you can really lose control. When it happens you hold on until the tremors stop. You need both hands. A cup of liquid is the last thing you need. It has to go, and in the summer of 2018 it did. High, with pride.
THIS ONE'S FOR YOU GARETH!
Here's the England fans celebrating that very goal in Hyde Park. There will never be more beer thrown in one place, at one time, ever again. LIMBSSSSSSS. pic.twitter.com/UoB9vLlLRbJuly 11, 2019
Kieran Trippier, over the wall
By the 2018 semi-final, people were showing up to fan parks in those disposable waterproof ponchos such was the volume of aerial lager. Looking back at footage of fans celebrating Kieran Trippier’s early semi-final goal, it doesn't look real. It feels staged.
But it was very real. It's comical how many plastic cups fill the air. But that was the new norm, the cameras were ready pointing at the crowd for that exact moment. It was wet and wild – a new craze was born.
No other fan base chucks fans like England. A strange thing to type. But like it or not, pint chucking is officially ‘a thing’.
Ketch joined FourFourTwo as Deputy Editor in 2022 having racked up appearances at Reach PLC as a Northern Football Editor and BBC Match of the Day magazine as their Digital Editor and Senior Writer. During that time he has interviewed the likes of Harry Kane, Sergio Aguero, Gareth Southgate and attended World Cup and Champions League finals. He co-hosts a '90s football podcast called ‘Searching For Shineys’, is a Newcastle United season ticket holder and has an expensive passion for collecting classic football shirts.
