England fans’ unique beer tradition for Euro 2024

An English football fan who bought beer from every nation competing at Euro 2024 said the tradition for which he regularly went viral “adds another level of excitement” to the tournament.

Gus Hully, 37, has been buying beers representing the countries playing in international football competitions since Euro 2016, continuing to build collections for the 2018 and 2020 Euros and the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments.

This year, Gus, which is based in Bromley, east London, said it spent around £70 to buy 24 beers to represent each of the 24 teams that will take part in Euro 2024, which starts Friday with Germany vs. Scotland.

READ MORE: Daniel Gee boarded the train to Liverpool as new CCTV released by police

READ MORE: John Lewis’s £55 summer wedding guest dress is ‘fresh and stylish’

The Cheltenham Town FC supporter told PA news agency: “It adds another level of excitement to being excited about football, excited to be with friends and enjoying the summer.”

In previous years, Gus, a music industry analyst working for the Official Charts Company, has made headlines for rounding up beers from every country competing in World Cup tournaments.

The latest social media post revealing his Euro 2024 collection has gained more than eight million views on X, formerly Twitter, which he said looked “mental”.

He said: “I find it really bizarre that it’s getting such a big reaction from so many people. It seems mental that people really resonate with me buying a few beers and putting them together, I’m just overwhelmed by it.”

Gus added that it’s “weird” to live virally during tours every two years.

He said: “It’s weird, but at the same time I’ve gotten used to it and my friends have gotten used to it. I joke that my beer posting is the unofficial opening ceremony of tournaments.”

Gus said he spent around six months completing his Euro 2024 collection, which consists of beers such as Portugal’s Super Bock, Turkey’s Efes Draft and Scotland’s Vault City Iron Brew.

He said: “The beers were actually brewed in their countries of origin, so Croatian beer was from Croatia, Dutch beer was from the Netherlands. Most of them I could find (in the UK), so for example I could get a Ukrainian Beer from a certain Ukrainian shop.”

“But for Slovenia, I had to import it and I know a guy there who collects beer and he was able to send it to me. I also had to get the one for Albania from abroad, but I prefer to get them face to face . – face and go to a store and get them from there.”

To represent England this year, Gus said he chose Jeremy Clarkson’s Hawkstone Larger, which is produced near Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire.

He said: “I’ve done this a few times before and you want to try something new every time. Diddly Squat Farm is about 20 miles from where I grew up and where my parents still live, so I found Hawkstone Lager. in a local store.”

He said he would drink every beer when the country was knocked out of the tournament or when a team was “crowned as champions”.

He added that when England lost to Italy on penalties in the Euro 2020 final, it was “probably the worst beer (he) has ever had”.

“I was gutted,” he said. Ahead of Euro 2024, Gus said he is feeling hopeful, although he believes it will be a quarter-final exit for England.

He added: “I said in my post (on X) that he’s ‘coming home’ but I think he’ll probably be a knockout in the quarters. I would be absolutely thrilled if we won.”

Don’t miss the biggest and breaking stories by subscribing to the Echo Daily newsletter here