Fans drink it in as pubs cash in on England's Euro glory trail

Beer-fuelled delirium ensued during and after Tuesday's glorious Wembley trouncing of Germany, and it's a wave of optimism that the pub trade is happily riding.

Such is the confidence in Gareth Southgate's Three Lions side, one pub boss said he had already ordered extra bottles and kegs for this weekend before England had even got through. And some supporters have already booked their tables for the final at their favourite hostelries.

Before then though, there is the small matter of a quarter final against Ukraine on Saturday night, potentially followed by a last four clash with the Czech Republic or Denmark on Wednesday.

Staff at The Steam Wagon in Harlescott, Shrewsbury, spent most of Wednesday cleaning up after joyful scenes on Tuesday. Now they're looking forward to another busy football night on Saturday.

Landlady Victoria Martin said: "It's been really good. People have been coming in for all of the games, but obviously the popular ones are the big England games. We've been to capacity on most of those games. The Czech game where we were already through was a bit quieter, but it's been great.

"We've added an extra two TVs so all areas of the pub can see the games and a big screen in the garden. It's been a bit different because of social distancing. Normally everyone would be up. We sometimes have to ask people to sit down if it goes near the goal but everyone understands.

"From the point of view of an England supporter, and I do really love my football, the atmosphere has been electric. And from a pub point of view, we've been thriving. It's been really busy. It's been good fun."

She added: "Some of my team are quite young so this is their first time experiencing working in a pub for a football tournament. Then you add in doing table service and running drinks.

"We were hoping, like the rest of the country, that we would be fully open by June 21. But we've just got to carry on doing what we're doing.

"I would love for football to come home, but I'm not going to make any predictions.

"We'll definitely be ready on Saturday night."

Stuart Coates, general manager of The Abbey in Monkmoor Road, Shrewsbury, has also been enjoying the fun of the cup run. He said: "It's been fantastic. The fans have been really good from the first game. We're already fully booked for Saturday night. It took half an hour after the Germany game for us to be fully booked.

"We were a little bit worried ahead of the first game but the fans have been really well behaved. They've been respectful but patriotic.

"We restocked for Saturday before the Germany game because we were confident England would get through. We were optimistic.

"People have been making use of our eight-pint beer towers so they don't have to keep ordering. Customers love them.

"I think we've got the favourable route to the final. We've even had people booking their tables for the final."