The World Cup led to record sales and footfall in Lidl UK stores over the past month, as people opted for garden parties and BBQs to cheer on the England team.

During the tournament, the discounter, which is the Official Supermarket of the England Football Team, experienced the highest ever number of customers shopping in stores, outside of Christmas. Footfall peaked on 30^th June, as customers prepared for the World Cup ‘Last 16’ stage, with fans visiting their local Lidl to stock up on supplies to support their team from the comfort of their own home.

Sales during the period indicate that the hot weather inspired football fanatics across the country to host BBQs and garden parties for friends and family.  Since 14^th June, when Russia beat Saudi Arabia in the opening game of the World Cup, to France’s victory in the Final on 15^th July, the following products delivered a record-breaking sales performance compared to the same five-week period in 2017:

• Total BBQ meat and poultry sales were up 25%.
• Burger sales were up 45%, with more than 100 burgers sold every minute.
• The beer, wine and spirits category grew 16% overall, with beer experiencing a 18% sales uplift.

As England’s chances of reaching the Final heated up, Lidl saw a particularly strong sales uplift across certain food items. In the week of England’s Quarter and Semi Final matches, burger sales increased by 50%, compared to the same period last year.

England’s successful run in the World Cup led to unprecedented support for the team from home fans, with Lidl seeing a surge in England football kit sales. Lidl sold 120,000 England branded tops, 34,000 children's England strips and 35,000 footballs in its 710 stores across the country.

Christian Härtnagel, CEO of Lidl UK said: "England's remarkable run in the World Cup, along with a never-ending heatwave, has led to more customers coming through our doors than ever before. As the Official Supermarket of the England Football Team, we’ve been really proud of their performance, and it’s been great to get behind the squad. We’re also incredibly proud of our colleagues, who have worked extremely hard throughout the tournament, to ensure that Lidl stores across the country were stocked up with supplies, as the nation showed their support.”

With chants of ‘it’s coming home’ and the nations expectations on their shoulders, the England team face down against a Croatia team that many thought would be an easy match to reach the final.

Despite a wonderful start through a 20 yard free kick by Kieran Trippier after only 5 minutes, England were unable to take advantage of any of the multitude of chances they created for themselves.

It was this inability to get a second that seemed to give Croatia a new lease of life in the second half, and lo and behold in the 68th minute Croatia equalised through Perisic.

Neither team was able to break the deadlock, which was surprising considering the level of play and talent on show on the pitch.

Extra time and penalties loomed, but England started to look tired and unfortunately in the 109th minute Mandzukic shattered the hopes and dreams of the millions of England fans watching worldwide.

Just like that, ‘it’ was no longer ‘coming home’.

As bitterly disappointed as the team will be that they didn’t make it all the way to the final, there are so many positives to take away from this World Cup, not least the team itself which overachieved and showed a level of passion, pride, hunger and teamwork that has been sorely lacking from previous national squads.

Gareth Southgate should be celebrating his decision to give our young players a chance to show that we can get past the starting line. Playing exciting football and always looking positive, this is a team to now work on for the Euros and beyond.

As a nation we should be extremely proud of what the team has achieved, and be very excited to look to the future with this team.

WV Active will be offering six weeks of free sporting activities for Wolverhampton residents to enjoy this summer.

The City of Wolverhampton Council’s Summer of Sport starts on Monday 23 July and continues until Friday 31 August across all three leisure centres, WV Active Aldersley, WV Active Central and WV Active Bilston-Bert Williams.

Free activities on offer include badminton, tennis, squash, table tennis, family swimming lessons and fitness classes, and can be enjoyed by adults and children of all ages.

Those who want to take advantage of the offer must be residents of Wolverhampton and will need to register for temporary Summer of Sport membership for free via the WV Active website.

Councillor Steve Evans, the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Cabinet Member for City Environment, said: “We are delighted to be offering a wide range of free activities for local residents of all ages during the school holidays, and I’d encourage people to sign up for their Summer of Sport today.”

The Summer of Sport programme is being supported with funding from the council’s Public Health service.

Cabinet Member for Public Health and Wellbeing, Councillor Hazel Malcolm, said: “It is important that as many people as possible have the opportunity to enjoy sport and exercise, and by offering a wide range of free sessions at our leisure centres from 23 July to 31 August we hope that even more residents will be able to enjoy a fit and active summer.

“This ties in well with our Vision for Public Health, whereby we create the right sort of environment in which people are better able to look after their own health and wellbeing.”

Organisers of the Athletics World Cup, in conjunction with the World Platinum Investment Council, today revealed the highly coveted Platinum Trophy. Made from solid platinum, which is 30 times rarer than gold, the unique trophy will be presented to the captain of the winning nation of the inaugural event at the London Stadium in less than ten days’ time (14-15 July).

Coinciding with the launch of the British team, Commonwealth silver medallist Morgan Lake, British 200m champion Beth Dobbin, European under-23 gold medallist Ojie Edoburun and Athletics World Cup Chief Executive Niels de Vos were all on hand to unveil The Platinum Trophy at Dartmouth House in London today.

Eight nations – China, France, Germany, GB & NI, Jamaica, Poland, South Africa and USA – will battle it out over two floodlit evenings at the London Stadium in a bid to get their hands on The Platinum Trophy, which is believed to be the most valuable sporting trophy ever made, surpassing those of the FIFA World Cup and Wimbledon as well as the NHL’s Stanley Cup.

The reveal of The Platinum Trophy follows on from the unveiling of the Athletics World Cup medals last month with a first of its kind Platinum Winners’ Medal on offer in addition to the traditional gold, silver and bronze medals awarded to the top three athletes in each of the 34 events.

The Platinum Trophy was shaped and formed in separate pieces, before being assembled, with the entire process completed by hand using traditional techniques. The Trophy took more than 650 man hours to create, stands at 512mm tall and weighs a total of over 6kg. The base was made using bog oak, believed to be 5000 years old, from the Fens in Cambridgeshire.

Commonwealth silver medallist Morgan Lake said: “It is always an honour to be selected to represent Great Britain & Northern Ireland, especially for a home event. I have such fond memories of competing in the high jump at the World Championships last year in London, the atmosphere was amazing and I cannot wait to get back into the stadium.

“After jumping a personal best at the British Championships I’m really excited to see what comes next for me, and I’m looking forward to the Athletics World Cup.”

British 200m champion and Scottish record holder Beth Dobbin said: “It has been a crazy season so far for me but it feels great to be handed my senior British debut at the Athletics World Cup. If you had asked me at the start of the season if I would be in this position I would have probably said no but I knew if I started running well I could start to achieve what I have done. It is a dream come true and I can’t wait to run for Britain at the London Stadium.”

European under-23 100m champion Ojie Edoburun said: “I am excited to pull on the British vest and run in my home town at the Athletics World Cup next weekend. I have had some great moments competing for Britain, becoming the European junior champion in 2015 and the European under-23 champion last year, and I am relishing the opportunity to test myself against seven other top sprinters in front of a passionate home crowd at the London Stadium.”

Chief Executive of the Athletics World Cup, Niels de Vos, said: “With less than ten days to go until the Athletics World Cup, we are pleased to reveal the unique Platinum Trophy that all eight nations will be competing for across two exciting days of sporting.

“Along with the Platinum Winners’ Medals we are offering the successful nation at the Athletics World Cup a prize like no other in world sport. The Trophy is befitting of the hard work and dedication made by all athletes in their bid to be the best they can be.

“We look forward to welcoming all of the athletes and staff from each of the eight competing nations back to London next week and then watching the action unfold at the best athletics venue in the world at the London Stadium.”

Chief Executive of the World Platinum Investment Council, Paul Wilson said: “Athletics constantly endeavour to push beyond the boundaries of what we all think is possible. We see the making and gifting of The Platinum Trophy and winners medals as a fitting tribute to this. As the world’s most prestigious precious metal, platinum’s rarity and aesthetic beauty stand as a symbol of outstanding achievement, elite performance and prestige.”

World No.1 long jumper Lorraine Ugen has been handed the honour of captaining the British team at the Athletics World Cup in London from 14-15 July.

Ugen, who secured her place at the Athletics World Cup with an impressive victory at the Müller British Athletics Championships earlier this month, was chosen to captain the British team by performance director Neil Black.

The 26-year-old is currently enjoying a fine summer having retained her British long jump title with a world lead, Championship record, best British performance of the day and personal best leap of 7.05m in Birmingham and won the Stockholm leg of the IAAF Diamond League in June.

In partnership with the Mayor of London’s #BehindEveryGreatCity campaign, which commemorates the 100-year anniversary of the 1918 Representation of the People Act, which gave some women the right to vote for the very first time, the Athletics World Cup will see all eight competing nations led by female captains.

Lorraine Ugen said: “It feels great to be named team captain. We have a great set of athletes coming out for the first World Cup and I am looking forward to being the captain for these athletes and hope that we can put on a show for the home crowd. I am most looking forward to the team spirit that comes with competing in a team event rather than just focusing on individual events only. We will all be cheering each other so we can fight to score the most points. It’s nice to see female leads on all teams. It will be an inspiration to young girls and athletes out there that they can be leaders in sport and hopefully inspire them to want to do the same. I have been training well so I hope to go out there and score well for my team.”

Neil Black, Performance Director at British Athletics, said: “It is a pleasure to announce Lorraine as captain of the British team for the Athletics World Cup in her home town of London. Lorraine is not just a world-class long jumper but a pleasure to have on any team and a fantastic role model within the sport, which is a vital characteristic of any captain. I’ve no doubt Lorraine will lead by example with her performance on the track and also with her enthusiasm and love of the sport off the track as well.”

The 2018 Trampoline, Tumbling & DMT British Championships springs into action at Arena Birmingham, on 22-23rd September 2018.

Lucky spectators could witness the return of history-making trampoline Olympic Silver Medallist Bryony Page on home soil, as she takes on stiff competition from world team bronze medallists Laura Gallagher and Kat Driscoll. Nathan Bailey and Luke Strong will go head to head for the men’s senior trampoline crown. Our disability trampoline gymnasts will also perform exhilarating routines in a bid for the prestigious medals.

The senior tumbling teams lead by 2018 European champion Lucie Colebeck, and her teammates Yasmin Taite, Kristof Willerton, Greg Townley and Elliott Browne will show off their immense power and skill down the tumbling track, guaranteeing to leave the crowds stunned.

DMT gymnasts will bring their explosive power and high-flying stunts in a bid for the British titles. The newly crowned Junior European team champions and individual senior gold medallist Kirsty Way will be looking for perfectly executed routines to edge out the competition.

Get the most out of the event with unreserved seating, and watch all three disciplines up close and personal. One thing’s for sure, you will be treated to truly spectacular and inspiring gymnastics performances from Britain’s best trampoline, tumbling and DMT gymnasts.