Sussex: ‘I always dreaded when the football was on’

Lisa met her partner Lee when she was 19 years old. One year later the violence began.

Not long after their son Josh was born, Lee tried to choke her with a dressing gown cord.

“He’s knocked me out a few times, just from punches on my face. Out cold for hours on end,” she told BBC News.

It was even worse when international football tournaments came round every two years.

“I would dread it,” she said. “I used to walk the streets for hours, two and three in the morning, with small children, just because they didn’t want to go home.

“Because the football was on and because England had lost. I knew exactly what was going to happen as soon as I walked through the door.”

It is now well-established that reports of domestic violence increase during international tournaments.

Lisa’s local force Sussex Police saw the number of 999 calls linked to domestic violence double during the Qatar World Cup in 2022.

It was Lisa’s adult children Josh and Jessica who eventually persuaded her to go to the police after 29 years of violence.

Last year Lee pleaded guilty to controlling or coercive behaviour, and was jailed for 38 months.