Pub's free beer offer backfires spectacularly after football team scores seven goals

Becky Webster, a pub landlady in the UK, launched a promotion promising a free pint of beer for every goal scored by the local Premier League team. Unexpectedly, the team won with a resounding 7-0 victory, resulting in her giving away a large quantity of free beer, a true case of "own goal." This promotion, while well-intentioned, ended up costing her significantly.

Webster runs a pub called the Gedling Inn in Nottinghamshire, in the Midlands of England. Last Saturday, when Nottingham Forest thrashed Brighton 7-0, she gave away a total of 300 pints of free beer, worth £1,500 (approximately $3,000 USD). The unexpected win led to a very busy and expensive evening for the pub.

Webster told the BBC that the promotion, which backfired spectacularly, has generated international attention, and she has received messages and media inquiries from Australia, the United States, and South America. Almost everyone wants to know if the pub will be able to stay in business after such a significant financial hit. The unexpected attention has been overwhelming.

"It's been overwhelming, but it's so nice to get some good out of something that seemed like a loss," she said. The pub only announced the offer 45 minutes before the game started. Nottingham Forest was coming off a 0-5 defeat, and few fans predicted the goal-scoring spree that followed. The timing of the promotion contributed to the unexpected outcome.

Webster stated that she had originally expected Forest to score "two or three" goals and was even upstairs feeding her child when the goal rush began. Although her partner suggested they abandon the offer, she insisted on continuing with it. She said that "everyone was having such a good time" and she briefly forgot about the cost. The atmosphere in the pub was electric, adding to the excitement.

Now, after calculating the financial impact of the promotion on her business, Webster hopes that breweries will offer her some assistance. She even stated that she would welcome some help from Nottingham Forest's owner, Greek businessman Evangelos Marinakis. "But really, if he came to visit, we'd give him a free pint, he's done brilliantly," she said. She is hoping for some support to offset the unexpected costs.