Football fans tapping into a Wi-Fi connection to watch their favourite team over the web have been told this is the greenest way to enjoy the sport.

With just a week before the new Premier League season kicks off, the Carbon Trust has released the results of a study that looked into how emission levels are affected by different ways of viewing the beautiful game.

Cited by cable.co.uk, the study found that using a Wi-Fi connection to watch a 90 minute football match on a tablet or smartphone device produced eight times fewer emissions than watching it on a 42-inch plasma television.

The least eco-friendly way to watch football was to travel to the stadium, as the emissions produced by cars, trains and buses in the transport stage had a huge impact on the readings.

However, the report highlighted that Wi-Fi’s title was still thoroughly deserved, as emission levels increased when fans used their mobile data to keep up with the action.

Roger Maslin, managing director of Wembley Stadium, said his own group was calling on fans to “do their bit” in helping the sport shrink its carbon “bootprint”. 

Stats from energylivenews.com show that 27 per cent of UK smartphone owners and 63 per cent of tablet owners are taking advantage of improved internet options for their devices by using them to watch live TV.