Love 2, football 1, credit card 0

British men spend almost twice as much on their partners as they do following their football teams - but are scoring an own goal by using costly credit cards, Virgin Money has found.

While romantic British men are splashing out an average £805 on their partners throughout the year, football fans are spending £482 on following their club, a survey for Virgin discovered. And a large chunk of this outlay is going on credit cards.

"Gone are the days when football fans were seen as loving their team more than their partner. Generous British men are splashing out even more to keep the romance alive and can be seen down the local bistro and flower shop as often as they're down the football ground," said John Franklin, of Virgin Money Credit Card.

The lender's research also shows that over 70 per cent of footy fans use their cards to pay for some of their partner's special treats, and that many of these are paying expensive interest rates to do so.

"In order to be able to keep their better halves in the manner to which they've become accustomed, football supporters should look at cards with zero per cent balance transfer deals," Mr Franklin noted.

The survey also found that not all British men are as generous as each other.

Men in the South West were most generous, spending £726 more on their loved one than on their team, with residents of the football-mad North East spending £216 more on their teams than their partners.

Men from Yorkshire spend the least on their girlfriends with an average outlay of £613 each, Virgin Money's Love or Football survey found.

Residents of London and North West were found to spend the least on following their teams - although whether this is because they care less, or that they have more local derbies so travel the least is unsure.