A pub owner has spoken about his concerns after just three people turned up to watch the England match on Sunday - and one was a baby.
James Skinner has been running the Rose and Crown in Bebington, Wirral for over three years and told the ECHO how they were just turning a profit in January 2020 when the pandemic hit.
The subsequent lockdowns and strict Covid-19 regulations have been pushing the pub to the brink and said they were dealt another blow on Monday when Boris Johnson announced a delay to the easing of restrictions.
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James, 31 said: "We took over in 2018 and it is a great little pub - and profitable too, which is good considering it is not always a profitable industry.
"After we opening in March 2018, we reinvested all the money we made back into the pub and in January 2020 we had just started to make a very small profit - a buffer zone."
But then coronavirus hit and since then James has had a battle weighing up the value of table service with the number of customers.
He said: "It is just not profitable doing table service for a small cask ale pub.
"We are usually booked up on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but it has been a struggle.
"We have had to close on Mondays and Tuesdays and open later the rest of the week when we would usually open 12pm-12am every day with just one of us behind the bar and extra staff at weekend.
"Now I have four times as many staff on to do the table service - if you can remember what pubs were like in the good old days, you would just go up to the bar."
James said while Monday's announcement had been expected it had still been a "bombshell".
He said: "The restrictions are crippling our industry.
"Business Rates start up again next month and we have to start replaying our 'Bounce Back' loans just when we really need the money."
Asked what he thought pubs like The Rose and Crown needed most, James said: "A delay on the loan repayments and a delay bringing back business rates would be great.
"But first and foremost, I know the restrictions are there to protect people's health, but they really need to go so we can get rid of table service."
He also said they are now facing some unexpected competition, he added: "Throughout lockdown people have been doing up their gardens and building bars - that is our main competitor now, not the pub down the street.
"Our beer garden is in full swing now, and I think it is a case of getting people back into the habit and getting them back out there to support their local pubs before they are gone."
