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‘It was like a pitch invasion to the bar’: Inside the pub forced to give away hundreds of free pints after Nottingham Forest goal deal backfires

By Callum Wright

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Staff at a pub in Gedling have spoken about the chaos that unfolded after they were forced to give away hundreds of free pints when a deal linked to a live Nottingham Forest game backfired.

The Gedling Inn on Main Road, Gedling, posted online to say anyone visiting to watch the Reds’ Premier League match against Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday (February 1) would be allowed a free pint whenever or if Forest scored a goal.

The Reds went on to thrash the Seagulls 7-0 – their biggest-ever win in the league – which resulted in hundreds of pints being poured free of charge.

Landlord Cassian Prime said: “We never counted up soft drinks or water but it was close to 300 pints of alcohol.

“Every time they scored a goal it was like a pitch invasion to the bar because there were 50-60 people in here and the goals were going in every 15 minutes, they didn’t even get chance to finish their first pint.”

Landlady Beccy Webster said the pub has only recently began showing Forest games and wanted to try a ‘crazy’ offer to try and get people through the door. Having created the deal a week after Forest suffered a heavy 5-0 defeat to AFC Bournemouth, staff thought it a sensible bet.

“I never thought they would score seven, we were thinking maybe two or three but it was nice to give something back to the fans after a big loss the week before,” she said.

“When the final whistle was blew it was a bit of a sigh of relief.”

The result also marked the most goals Forest have scored in a league game since beating Chelsea, also 7-0, in 1991.

Despite the amount of pints given away, Beccy and Cassian, who are also both Forest fans, still praised the ‘buzzing’ atmosphere in the pub during the game and have already made plans for the future.

“We’re already in talks about doing the offer for the next game – maybe not as dramatic as this – but we’ll definitely do something,” said Beccy.