With the football season heading rapidly towards its conclusion, watching the beautiful game has become the perfect excuse to avoid DIY – but which fans are most likely to dodge their household chores?
Some 52 per cent of football fans admit to skipping household tasks to watch a game, with Watford fans the most DIY shy in the Premier League. Seventy per cent of Hornets admitted to abandoning tasks to watch their team.
However, of all the Premier League and Championship teams, Reading FC fans topped the poll for those most likely to put off tasks, with 85 per cent admitting to skipping DIY to watch football.
Other teams in the poll, conducted by Anglian Home Improvements, include Everton (65 per cent), Birmingham and Manchester City (both 63 per cent), Brentford (60 per cent), Liverpool (59 per cent), Bristol and Sheffield Wednesday (58 per cent) and Manchester United (55 per cent).
Mowing the lawn was the DIY task most football fans put off in order to watch the beautiful game (14 per cent), followed by painting the walls or ceiling (11 per cent) and washing the windows (11%).
Smaller household tasks are also left forgotten during matches, with a quarter (26 per cent) of fans abandoning the washing up before the final whistle.
DIY need not be left until the final whiste, however. Anglian has also compiled a list of tasks that can be completed during the 15-minute half-time break, including hanging a picture, putting up a curtain rail and bleeding the radiators.