- Monday, April 29, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
He bought thousands of England World Cup winner jerseys anticipating the Three Lions would lift the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, something they haven’t done before and after 1966.
But now, Karl Baxter, boss of a wholesale company in Poole, Dorset, in southern England has been left facing a “major loss” after his favourite team failed to fulfil his dream as they lost to reigning champions and trans-continental rivals France in the quarter-finals at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor on Saturday (10), BusinessLive reported.
England’s dreams were shattered after their captain Harry Kane missed a penalty in the 84th minute to concede a 2-1 win to the French.
After the heartbreak, Kane tweeted, “We’ve given it everything and it’s come down to a small detail which I take responsibility for. There’s no hiding from it, it hurts and it’ll take some time to get over it but that’s part of sport. Now it’s about using the experience to be mentally and physically stronger for the next challenge. Thanks for all the support throughout the tournament – it means a lot.”
For Baxter, the outcome came as a massive blow as out of over-confidence, he bought 18,000 football shirts to sell ahead of the France clash, celebrating England as the new World Cup winners.
The managing director of Wholesale Clearance UK, a wholesaler supplying goods to trade and people, was certain that the jerseys would “go down a storm” with England football fans, and insisted that while the move was a bit premature, he believed that England could go all the way, the BusinessLive report added.
“I’m absolutely gutted that England has been knocked out of the World Cup,” he said.
“I have been really impressed with England’s performance in Qatar and was sure they would win this year’s tournament. When approached by a supplier to sell the shirts, I simply couldn’t say no.”
The trader planned to sell the red, white and blue football shirts that read ‘England Cup Winners 2022, It’s Finally Home’, for £29.99 each.
Now, with the dream getting shattered, Baxter has to fall back on Plan B and that is to flog the merchandise at a big discount — at £9.99 instead.
But Wholesale Clearance could close out of £360,000 as a result.
“I’ve been left with 18,000 shirts that say they’ve won – and I’m not sure what to do,” Baxter was quoted as saying by BusinessLive.
“I’d like to appeal to England fans to purchase one of the shirts, to keep it as a piece of history and a reminder of how well our team played throughout the tournament. While they haven’t won, they are still winners in my eyes.”
England, runners-up at the 2020 Euro, kicked off their campaign at the World Cup in style with a 6-2 win over Iran. They drew the US 0-0 and thrashed Wales and Senegal by identical margins of 3-0 in the next two games to reach the quarters where they were halted by the holders.
