I do not think I am alone in dreading the next few weeks when the World Cup is being played.

All television programmes will be disrupted with no advance warning so that a minority of people can watch a sort of bladder kicking between two countries most people would be hard-pressed to find on a map.

A large amount of licence payers’ money will be spent in transporting television crews and of course an army of commentators, critics, etc, some several thousand miles.

Dare I suggest that just one pub in York puts out a notice board advertising that they have no large screen, and that in this house you can drink your beer in comfort, without being deafened by the commentary on television or the shrieks of the spectators. Personally I shall sit at home drinking my home-brewed lager and watching some of my fairly extensive video collection while feeling grateful that, at my advanced age, I get my television free.

Mike Usherwood, Mendip Close, Huntington, York.