An English football fan who has bought beers from each nation competing in Euro 2024 has said the tradition for which he has regularly gone viral “adds another level of excitement” to the tournament.
Gus Hully, 37, has been purchasing beers representing the countries playing in international football competitions since Euro 2016, going on to build collections for the Euros in 2018 and 2020 and the World Cup tournaments in 2018 and 2022.
This year, Mr Hully, who is based in Bromley, east London, said he has spent around £70 to purchase 24 beers to represent each of the 24 teams taking to Euro 2024 – which kicks off on Friday with Germany v Scotland.
The Cheltenham Town FC supporter told the PA news agency: “It adds another level of excitement to it – you’re excited for the football, excited to be with friends and enjoy the summer.”
In previous years, Mr Hully, a music industry analyst working for the Official Charts Company, has made headline news for gathering beers from every country competing in the World Cup tournaments.
His latest social media post revealing his Euro 2024 collection has earned more than eight million views on X, formerly Twitter, which he said seemed “mental”.
“I find it really bizarre that it gets such a big reaction from a lot of people,” he said.
“It seems mental that people really resonate with me buying a few beers and stacking them up, I’m just overwhelmed by it really.”
Mr Hully added that it is “strange” to experience going viral around the time of the tournaments every two years.
“It’s strange but at the same time I’m used to it and my friends are used to it.
“They joke that my posting of the beers is the unofficial opening ceremony of the tournaments.”
Mr Hully said he has spent around six months to complete his collection for Euro 2024 which consists of beers such as Super Bock from Portugal, Efes Draft from Turkey and Scotland’s Vault City Iron Brew.
“The beers have actually been brewed in their home countries, so the Croatian beer was from Croatia, the Dutch beer was from the Netherlands,” he said.
“Most of them I could find (in the UK), so for example I could get a Ukrainian beer from a specific Ukrainian shop.
“But for Slovenia, I had to import it and I know a guy over 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 and go to a shop and get them from there.”
To represent England this year, Mr Hully said he selected Jeremy Clarkson’s Hawkstone Larger, which is brewed near Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire.
“I’ve done this quite a few times before and you want to try something new each time,” he said.
“The Diddly Squat Farm is about 20 miles away from where I grew up and where my parents still live, so I found Hawkstone Lager in a local shop.”
He said he will drink each beer when the country has been knocked out of the tournament or when one team has been “crowned as the champion”.
He added that when England lost to Italy in penalties during the final of Euro 2020, it was “probably the worst beer (he) had ever had”.
“I was gutted,” he said.
Ahead of Euro 2024, Mr Hully said he was feeling hopeful although he felt it would be a quarter-final knockout for England.
He added: “I said in my post (on X) that ‘it’s coming home’ but I think it’s probably going to be a quarters knockout. I’d be absolutely buzzing if we won.”
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