Burton Albion, Football Pubs and Out Of Touch Politicians

Philip Hammond, Keir Starmer, Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn, Nick Clegg, Michel Barnier, Jean Claude Juncker, Guy Verhofstadt, Ken Clarke, Anna Soubry, Dominic Grieve, Michael Gove, David Davis, Peter Mandelson, Nicola Sturgeon, Boris Johnson, John McDonell, Vince Cable, Emmanuel Macron, Martin Schulz, Elmar Brok, Angela Merkel and particularly Neil Kinnock…BORE OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was thinking about this today as I enjoyed a cracking half pint of Pedigree (Marston’s) in the 169 —The Beech Hotel DE13 0DL near to Burton Albion’s ground (which is actually classed as Stretton).

Honestly, all the post Brexit debate has told me is that most politicians are completely out of touch with the normal ordinary working man.  I’m pretty sure if you went to a car factory in Wolfsburg, a bar in Warsaw, a street market in Bayeux, a port in Rotterdam, a holiday resort in Kavos or a brewer in Belgium they would tell all these posturing politicians – sort it out.

The constant threats/negotiations and continued moving of goalposts will not affect one of the aforementioned  who live in very nice Ivory Towers, despite what they claim. However, their egos won’t allow them to strike a deal and it is all so bloody predictable.

However, at least the bonus is now that nearly all of Europe recognise that all of this posturing and machismo is absolute drivel and that at no stage are any of these people, who will all live in property worth at least £1,000,000 I reckon, trying to do what’s best for their constituents or the public at large.

What’s this got to do with a boozer near to Burton Albion’s Pirelli Stadium I hear you cry?  The Beech is a big roadside boozer on the Derby Road and you can’t miss it as you come in off the A38.

Marston’s are always up for a deal and they have certainly cashed in during Burton’s unprecedented rise to the Championship as they are known as ‘designated away pub’ on match days.

My Brewers pal tells me that this place is packed on away days and I am pretty sure the gaffer of this boozer is hoping Burton stay in the second tier of English football to maximise profits.

Derby, Birmingham.. (this sticker has nothing do with me, honestly!)

…Villa, Wolves, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Newcastle and Leeds are certainly going to bring more fans, therefore more drinkers, than the likes of Bury, Fleetwood and Southend.

So, I’m pretty sure, the average working man in Burton isn’t turning on the news and listening to Jean Claude Juncker talk about issues that are not only irrelevant but bear little interest on his day to day life.

What he wants is Nigel Clough’s boys to keep defying the odds and stay up for a third consecutive campaign and keep the punters flooding in.

I popped in on a non-matchday Saturday and it was clearly quieter than usual but still had a few punters in.  The lounge was set up for a party and the bar smelled wonderfully clean (almost bleach like in a positive fashion) but it is clear this place is well looked after and a proper boozer with bench seating to boot.

The ground is apparently 650m to the south from the car park

(can you see the floodlight pylon just above the eurocell sign?)

and there is a gazebo out the front that has become semi-permanent for match day trade.

A big beer garden to boot also helps and when the temperature isn’t -1 then I am sure it is well used!

Nonetheless, the care put into this place is obviously paying dividends as you are never too far from locals in Burton and a huge housing estate has been built less than half a mile away so there are plenty of chimney pots in the vicinity.

As well as a party in the lounge they have a regular pool team who are currently sitting outside the relegation zone in the Premier League of the Burton Sunday Pool League and this suggests that locals possibly give this place a wide berth on a matchday but turn up the rest of the time.

http://burtonspl.leaguerepublic.com/l/fg/1_404518284.html

And why wouldn’t they?  This 1930’s built boozer is close to the Trent and Mersey Canal, has Sky and BT Sports (PL Darts was on the agenda when I was there), a pool table (covered) and a jukebox along with karaoke nights every other weekend.

If you look at their twitter account https://twitter.com/beech_hotel then clearly they are flexible as a visit from the nearby Wetmore Fish bar kept visiting supporters fed on a recent occasion and their message in May was;

“Thank you to everyone that visited us this year at The Beech, what a fantastic season we have had!! Every single crowd we have had here has been a pleasure to serve.
We hope to see you all back next season! Thank you from all the football staff.”  ⚽️⚽️🍺🍺

There was a decent crowd in and the gaffer is clearly used to letting people go about their business – in true football fan style – as he had no problem with me taking pictures or returning  a full pint when I had asked for a half.  Mind you, it was a cracking pint and at £1.65 for a half about standard price.

There was the odd away fans sticker that had secretly found its way on to a window to remind you that it was an away fans pub on machdays

(nothing to do with me, honestly I’ve told you before…these really were the only two stickers on the inside of the window!)

whilst the toilets were absolutely pristine and I reckon this place is rocking on a matchday.

So, in a nutshell, a good old boozer that has found a way to survive and sells a good pint of Pedigree – just one ale though that is probably sensible given its target audience – has attracted the local community and is pristine inside.

Yes, it wasn’t packed when I entered but it was busy enough with a group of blokes blocking the bar and a family with young kids by the fruit machines and everyone was just ticking along nicely.

I am absolutely positive that this place, like the rest of Europe and its entire workforce, is becoming increasingly disinterested with elected (or in some cases unelected) people on a gravy train clearly not interested in their day to day issues.

I am sure The Beech will be fine if Burton join Birmingham in League One next year but the results throughout March and April will be top of the business meetings held in their bar on a daily basis!