The new Premier League season is well and truly underway, and while some fans are left worrying that their club's season may be decided in a courtroom, others are already eyeing a coveted European place or desperately wanting a change of fortune (and manager!).
It's fair to say an extra bit of luck this season wouldn't go amiss. And while some managers will be switching up their tactics in hopes of climbing further up the league table, one thing will remain the same - their fans' matchday rituals.
Many football fans remain intensely superstitious, with 91% believing their pre-match rituals have a genuine impact on their teams' performance and results [1]. From sitting in the same spot at the same Flaming Grill pub[2]], with the same lucky pint, fans are loyal to their matchday ‘usuals’.
But are fans’ go-to pints proving to be a winning formula, or is it time to change their tipple tactics?
We’ve analysed our own sales data across 132 of our pubs to uncover the matchday pints fans are putting their faith in (wrongly or rightly) to keep the luck flowing this season.
The matchday pints backed by Premier League fans
To find out which pints Premier League fans are backing as their luckiest pints, we analysed the data from individual cities to identify the most sold pints on matchday in key fan zones.
- Manchester: Seemingly, City and United fans believe in the luck of the Irish, with Guinness topping the league as Manchester’s favourite matchday pint, accounting for 15% of pints sold in local Flaming Grill Pubs. Stella takes second place (12%), followed by Madri (11%), and San Miguel (10%).
- Leeds: Across the Pennines, Carlsberg was found to be Leeds’ favourite matchday usual, dominating 14% of sales, followed by Stella (12%) and Coors Light (11%).
- Newcastle: Further north, the matchday pint of choice for Newcastle is Stella (17%), Coors Light (10%), and Madri (10%).
- Birmingham: In Birmingham, San Miguel tops the league, accounting for 16% of matchday sales, edging out Madri (15.9%) and Carling (15%).
- London & Liverpool: Fans of both London (14%) and Liverpool (20%) based clubs deem Madri to be their luckiest pint for the game. Peroni draught ranks second on matchdays for both London (13%) & Liverpool (14%). Followed by Guinness in London (13%) and Carling in Liverpool (14%).
Find your city's matchday usual
To further understand how fans' matchday pint usual varies by city, we got into the data from our pubs across 37 cities in the UK, finding out which pint footie fans place their hopes on.
The results were as follows…
|
FIND YOUR CITY'S MATCHDAY USUAL |
||
|
City |
The usual pint |
% of sales on matchday |
|
Birmingham |
San Miguel |
16% |
|
Blackpool |
San Miguel |
12% |
|
Bristol |
Thatchers Gold |
22% |
|
Burton-On-Trent |
Carling |
17% |
|
Castleford |
Madri |
15% |
|
Coventry |
Carling |
22% |
|
Derby |
Carling |
22% |
|
Dudley |
Carling |
24% |
|
Greenhithe |
Stella |
21% |
|
Hull |
Carlsberg |
16% |
|
Huddersfield |
Stella |
20% |
|
Leeds |
Carlsberg |
14% |
|
Littlehampton |
Stella |
16% |
|
Liverpool |
Madri |
20% |
|
Manchester |
Guinness |
15% |
|
Milton Keynes |
Stella |
17% |
|
Newcastle-Under-Lyme |
Madri |
15% |
|
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne |
Stella |
16% |
|
Newport |
San Miguel |
19% |
|
Northampton |
Stella |
13% |
|
Nottingham |
San Miguel |
12% |
|
Paignton |
Madri |
14% |
|
Plymouth |
Madri |
18% |
|
Prescot |
San Miguel |
17% |
|
Rotherham |
Peroni Draught |
12% |
|
Sheffield |
Carling |
19% |
|
Sleaford |
Stella |
22% |
|
Solihull |
Carling |
36% |
|
Stockport |
Carling |
15% |
|
Stockton-on-Tees |
Stella |
17% |
|
Stoke-on-Trent |
San Miguel |
15% |
|
Walsall |
Carling |
23% |
|
Warrington |
San Miguel |
14% |
|
Wigan |
Stella |
14% |
|
Worksop |
Carling |
18% |
|
Worthing |
Stella |
15% |
|
York |
Carlsberg |
19% |
While we can’t guarantee your pint of choice will impact your chance of making the finals, despite what many fans will tell you, it can make the highs and lows of the season much more enjoyable.
But why tempt fate? Get yourself down to your local Flaming Grill pub, order your matchday usual and raise a glass to the pre-match rituals you wouldn’t dare break this season.
Find a pub
Methodology:
To identify the nation’s matchday usual pint, sales data from Flaming Grill pubs across the UK and 37 cities were analysed between 21 August and 20 September 2026, excluding sales made outside of matchday hours.
Sources:
[1] OLBG
[2] Betway