Men spend 26,461 hours of their life absorbed by football!

• Men spend 25 per cent more time thinking, talking and watching football than looking after children
• Men spend more time per week thinking, talking and watching football than they spend on cleaning, washing and ironing combined
• Even in the recession 25 per cent of unemployed Britons who support a football team would miss a job interview or work in order to watch their team play
• More than twice as many men would prefer to watch the football at home (38 per cent) rather than down the pub (15 per cent)

Brits are renowned for football obsessions, but new research conducted by BT Vision reveals just how passionate our footy fanatics really are.

The survey shows that the average male football fan begins watching football at age eight and during his lifetime will spend a whopping 26,461 hours and 36 minutes obsessing about the beautiful game via TV, internet, text and chatting with friends, family, kids and work colleagues.

Shockingly, the findings show men spend 25 per cent more time thinking, talking and watching football than they spend looking after children. When it comes to the football season, their partners can kiss goodbye to help around the house, with 26 per cent of men claiming they spend less than an hour a week cleaning, washing and ironing compared to the six hours and twelve minutes the average man spends watching, talking about and keeping up to date on football. Nearly half of men (43 per cent) even admitted that they would miss spending a day out with their family in order to watch their team play in a final.

When it comes to choosing the perfect place to watch that all-important match, it appears that home really is where the heart is, as more than twice as many said they prefer to watch the football on their TV at home (38 per cent), rather than down the pub (15 per cent).

Andy Baker, Commercial director for BT Vision, said: “We’ve always known that football is at the heart of our sporting nation, and this research shows that Britain certainly breeds some very passionate fans.

“This season BT Vision is offering customers even more sport with the addition of Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 to our service with prices from as low as £6.99. This is in addition to our already very successful existing offer from ESPN.

“That’s truly great news for football fans all over the country who want to enjoy sport at these great value prices.”

Despite men spending less time looking after children, they do spend double the amount of time with their partner than they do obsessing about football.

Corinne Sweet, psychologist, said: “The research shows many men struggle to find a balance between their passion for football and family. One compromise can be for fathers to involve their children more by watching matches together, and in making football games fun, family events at home.”

BT customers with selected TV broadband and calls packages can now get the “Total Sports Package”, which comprises Sky Sports 1, ESPN and BT Vision sports for just £6.99 a month or £11.99 to include Sky Sports 2. BT Vision combines Freeview channels via the aerial with on-demand content delivered via BT Broadband. Customers can pay-per-view or subscribe to thousands of hours of sport, film, documentaries, drama and kids entertainment, available on-demand and all the Freeview channels, all available on the TV. Visit www.bt.com/sport for more information.


Notes for Editors


All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 4,409 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between July 28 - August 2, 2010. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

During a lifetime, the average football watching man will spend a whopping 26,461 hours and 36 minutes obsessing about football. This is based on football fans, on average beginning watching football at eight years and 10 months old and spending 7 hours 45 minutes per week watching and keeping up to date on football. The average lifespan for men is 77 years.