Sport
Stockport County and Runaway Brewery announce comical new beer inspired by manager’s famous catchphrase
From Christmas dinners in a cup to naming beers after their manager, these lot are good at their marketing, aren't they?
In an amusing bit of PR, Stockport County and Runaway Brewery have collaborated to come up with a brand-new beer to sell at Edgeley Park ahead of the new season.
Teaming up with the local Stopfordian brewing company based just down the road from County‘s home ground, the club have created a tasty new pale ale inspired by their promotion-winning manager, Dave Challinor, and his now-famous post-match catchphrase.
Challinor, 47, is known not only for his honest and very matter-of-fact approach to post-match press conferences but also for ending virtually every single interview by saying, “Cheers, thank you”.
Having become a bit of a running joke amongst the staff, the players and the fan base, the club decided to lean into the gag and as they were looking for a name to give their beer, it turned out the answer was staring them in them right in the face. Introducing the ‘Cheers, Thank You’ pale ale:
The Stockport County manager might have been hoping to have his name next to a trophy this season, but we’d hazard a guess he wasn’t expecting to have inspired a beer.
It’s not the first time they’ve had some fun with this particular pun, either: the club previously sold a limited edition run of Dave Challinor-inspired ‘Cheers, Thank You’ mugs not long ago too.
Now, though, the Chester-born coach’s signature sign-off phrase has given its name to the new 4% pale which is said to offer “citrus notes with a clean and refreshing bitterness, delivering a modern, hoppy beer, perfect for a Saturday afternoon.” Can’t lie, sounds glorious.
Being sold exclusively at the stadium on matchdays and joining the likes of Great North Pie Co. at the not long opened County Courtyard, the ‘Cheers, Thank You’ pale ale with be available all season long starting from the Hatter’s opening League Two game against Gillingham this Saturday 5 August.
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Speaking on the collaboration, Mark Welsby, Head Brewer at Runaway, said: “The club sits at the heart of the town in every sense, so we jumped at the chance to collaborate on this speciality beer.
“County fans create an amazing atmosphere out of the Cheadle End, which we can often hear down at the brewery. We’re both proud and excited to know our beer ‘Cheers, thank you’ will be a part of the fans’ match day experience”.
As for the club’s chief exec Jonny Vaughan, he said that “partnering with Runaway further enhances our commitment to supporting local businesses and we are excited for fans to try the beer in our first match of the season against Gillingham.”
But it isn’t just beer and pies they’ll be serving along Hardcastle Road, the County Courtyard is promising a rotating menu of the very best street food in the world. We’re still thinking about that PCD (portable Christmas dinner — obviously)…
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Featured Image — Stockport County/Runaway Brewery
Sport
Manchester City release new ‘The Decade Collection’ celebrating 10 years of Pep Guardiola
Danny Jones
Manchester City and PUMA have just released a new clothing line celebrating 10 seasons of Pep Guardiola at the club.
Simply entitled ‘The Decade Collection’, the new PUMA range revolves entirely around Pep as he marks his 10th anniversary in charge of the Blues, focusing on minimalistic style.
Guardiola has always been a trendy bloke, often being highlighted for his fashion choices on the touchline – even some of the questionable ones…
But with a much plainer approach this time around, the Pep clothing collab
Debuting the lifestyle drop on Wednesday, 15 April, Man City wrote on social media, “Ten seasons on the touchline. Ten seasons of setting the standard.
“Introducing the Puma Football Decade Collection with the Pep Team – celebrating Pep’s ten seasons as our manager and inspired by memorable moments from his tenure at the Club.”
While it’s unclear how much (if any) of these new clothes the Catalan coach has helped design or had influence on, but given its exclusive nature, you can expect it to sell out pretty quickly.
They go on to add: “Created to honour a defining chapter that reshaped the club’s modern identity, this exclusive collection is available in limited quantities.
Starting at £30 for the cheapest item – a ‘P’ logo baseball cap – the most expensive part of the collection clocks in at £110: his special anniversary edition ‘Majesty Low Decade’ PUMA trainers.
You can see some more examples of what we’ve already seen him wearing, and what we’ll no doubt see him in pitchside very soon, down below.
https://x.com/ManCity/status/2044347944988516522?s=20
Obviously, City has plenty of other brand partnerships when it comes to both official sports apparel and more casual clothing, many of which we’ve already seen the 55-year-old football manager wear, but you can almost guarantee he’ll be donning them for the coming fixtures.
You can see Man City x PUMA x Pep Guardiola ‘Decade Collection’ in full HERE.
Speaking of which, up next for Pep and co is what could prove to be THE big twist in this year’s Premier League campaign, with his squad of serial winners taking on league leaders Arsenal at home.
Not only did the Gunners’ surprise loss to Bournemouth last weekend help City close the gap on the top spot, but with them refinding their form ahead of hosting the title hopefuls at the Etihad Stadium, it all looks to be shifting back in their favour at the moment.
With seven games left, and one in hand compared to Arsenal, do you see them beating Mikel Arteta’s side to another trophy?
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Featured Images — Manchester City Football Club (publicity pictures)
Sport
Sale Sharks announce signing of exciting new winger David Opoku-Fordjour
Danny Jones
Sale Sharks have revealed their latest bit of recruitment as they have announced an agreement to sign promising young winger, David Opoku-Fordjour.
The brother of existing Sharks player, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, David, is set to join Sale at the start of next Gallagher PREM season.
Sharing the news with their fans on social media, the Greater Manchester rugby union outfit is tipping the ‘exciting’ and very fast forward to achieve big things at the club.
As the older sibling of 21-year-old prop Asher (only slightly), they might be of a similar profile in some ways, but they are still two very unique talents with their own attributes.
The fellow Coventry-born prospect came through his local side’s youth academy, making over half a century of appearances for the Championship team.
He will now become the second member of the Opoku-Fordjour family, who are originally from Ghana, to play for Sale Sharks.
Already capped England star Asher is actually the youngest of the four Midlands-born brothers.
Meanwhile, David Opoku-Fordjour – still just 22 himself – will make his Premiership debut in the coming 2026/27 campaign, penning a one-year deal with an option of extending by another 12 months as part of his contract:
The youngster said in an official statement: “I know the levels at a PREM club will be much higher, but I’m really looking forward to playing and training with internationals every day.
“There are so many good wingers at the club – guys like Tom Roebuck and Arron Reed – and I just want to be a sponge and learn from them and develop as much as I can.”
“Asher and I are really close, and playing with him again will be brilliant. When I spoke to him, he just said that the environment at Sale is great and that I would really enjoy it. He said the club is full of good people, so I can’t wait to get started.”
Commenting on his arrival, Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson said, “There’s some real talent and potential in the Champ, and we think we’ve found one in David.
“He scores tries for fun, but there’s plenty more to his game, and we’re looking forward to seeing how he develops in this environment, learning and playing with the international wingers we’ve got.”
Looking forward to seeing him on the pitch, Sharks?
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Featured Images — FloRugby/Coventry RUFC (screenshots via YouTube)
Danny Jones -
4th August 2023 
