‘Free pint when Forest score!’: pub loses £1,500 after seven-goal rampage

It had seemed like the perfect promotion to get a few more punters through the door on a Saturday afternoon – give away a free pint for every goal scored by Nottingham Forest that day.

But seven goals and £1,500 worth of pints later, Nottinghamshire pub landlady Beccy Webster realised she might have scored a spectacular own goal.

“It got to half-time and I thought: ‘Oh my gosh, I don’t know if I can carry this on.’ But I decided I was sticking to my word,” she said. “This is what I’ve said I’m going to do. Whether it’s four, five, six, seven, 10 goals, I’m seeing it through now. We ended up giving away 300 pints.”

It was only about 45 minutes before kick-off when Webster decided to create the offer at her pub, The Gedling Inn, which she has been running for the past six years. Having only recently got TNT Sports installed on the TV, she was keen to make the most of being able to broadcast the Nottingham Forest game live.

“FREE PINT WHEN FOREST SCORE!!”, read the post on Instagram, issued about 20 minutes before the team’s Premier League match against Brighton started at 12.30pm on Saturday.

The first goal hit the net after 12 minutes, and they soon started coming thick and fast – the final score was 7-0 to Nottingham Forest, to much jubilation among the football fans gathered in the pub.

“It was just pure adrenaline. We were running with the fact the pub was so vibrant, everyone was happy,” said Webster’s partner, Cassian Prime, who runs the pub alongside her. “Coming off the back of a five-nil loss [the previous weekend], to see everybody happy and cheering and dancing and singing, it was absolutely amazing.

“A lot of the punters were our regulars anyway, so they were almost just laughing at us. They were lining up, getting the pints, and they’d literally put the pint on the table and another goal would go in. There were just lots of belly laughs.”

As the seventh goal went in, the couple poured themselves a drink and joined in.

Prime had been away from the pub that day, working on some house renovations, and was unaware of the free pint promotion until his phone was inundated with messages.

“My phone was like a hot potato, it was pinging away with people saying, ‘you’re a legend, we can’t believe you’ve done it, you guys are class,’ and I had no idea what they were talking about,” said Prime.

“So I went to the pub and it was in uproar, and Beccy came creeping from downstairs and told me. At this point it was 3-0, so I just thought hopefully we sit back, we defend, and try to hold on to the lead. Instead, we went and scored another four.”

The couple said that, despite the hefty bill, they don’t regret the decision. Their story has been reported across the globe, and brought an unprecedented level of attention and new customers to the pub.

As Webster speaks, a group of Nottingham Forest fans walk through the door, hoping to get a selfie with the owners of the now-famous venue.

“The pub has gone globally viral, we’ve been contacted from people in South Africa and France and Brazil. So for the £1,500, approximately, that it cost us, the publicity that’s come with it is quite a bargain,” said Prime.

They also joked that Nottingham Forest FC might help cover the costs. “The owner has got enough money to come and pay the bar tab, so if he could get in touch, we could sit and have a pint together or something,” said Webster.

In the meantime, they’re mulling over whether to continue with the promotion for future matches. “I think we definitely want to roll with the momentum – I’m not sure whether we could do the free pints again for every goal but you never know,” said Webster. “We’ll see what backing we get.”

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