On-field successes for Macclesfield Town and Wrexham have meant big sales at local pubs and both teams will fight on in the football tournament’s fourth round, which takes place this weekend.
Robinsons’ site, the Dolphin, in Macclesfield, saw record takings at the wet-led pub when the town’s League Two football team beat FA Cup holders Crystal Palace in the third round of the competition – and the Dolphin is gearing up for the fourth-round tie at home to Premier League Brentford on Monday 16 February.
Licensee Angela Hogg told The Morning Advertiser an early kick-off for the TNT Sports-televised match was more than welcome because the pub was also hosting a 60th birthday party later that day on Saturday 10 January.
Hogg, who has been at the helm of the Dolphin since May 2025, continued: “We knew there could be a clash and being quite a small pub – small but mighty – we’re very versatile.
“We knew we could be busy because when Macclesfield played Buxted Town on Boxing Day, fans descended on the pubs and pretty much drank us dry so we were prepared for the Crystal Palace match.
“Ultimately, my focus was really around my own customers, many of whom are Macclesfield Town supporters and tried to get tickets but couldn’t get them so people needed to look for alternative ways to watch the match.
“We really created that community vibe and encouraged people to come in early and get a seat.”
Community pubs thrive
What transpired was an electric atmosphere after Macclesfield went ahead and grabbed a second goal to win the match 2-1 and the dwell time of customers grew as they celebrated – even guests for the 60th birthday party joined in so the tills were ringing all night.
TNT Sports is sending some PoS goods, including bunting for the match against Brentford and Hogg said she thinks the pub may even be part of the broadcaster’s ‘Watch party’ so pub patrons could be on TV for the next stage of the FA Cup.
Ben Robinson, director of Pub Partnerships for Stockport-based Robinsons Brewery, said: “Our community pubs thrive when there is live sport on TV. We see sporting events as a powerful way of bringing people together to watch the games while providing an important boost to trade.
“Besides going to the matches live, we see our pubs acting as inclusive and welcoming spaces for people to feel part of a crowd and get involved.
“They build the excitement and camaraderie you’d expect from watching live sports alongside promoting socialising and further building our local communities.”
Meanwhile, Wrexham pub the Turf, which is located right next to the football side’s Racecourse Ground in north Wales, is enjoying a huge boom currently and the FA Cup matches are simply adding to that.
Wayne Jones, licensee of the Admiral Taverns-tenanted site, said screened sports is very popular and it’s not football that gets customers in, everything from boxing to cricket – and rugby, of course, is included.
The Turf is a wet-led site but food can be brought into the pub from a catering trailer outside so guests don’t go hungry and on Friday 9 January, Wrexham beat Premier League team Nottingham Forest 4-3 on penalties after the match was drawn 3-3.
Always electric
Jones, who is in his 18th year at the site said: “TNT Sports approached us and made a new pub sign showing the name ‘The Hallowed Turf’.
“It was a nod to the Racecourse stadium next door. It certainly drew a lot of interest. The match was on a Friday night and every game since the owners (film and TV stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney) took over is a sell-out so we had locals and tourists in here while the game took place next door. The next best thing for them is if they can’t watch it in the stadium to come to the pub, literally where the football club was formed, right next door.
“The atmosphere is always electric but that was even that was even more special because we won on penalties. There’s always something slightly special about the FA Cup and afterwards it remained absolutely electric.”
Jones is expecting the fourth round to be a similar affair when Wrexham are at home to fellow Championship team Ipswich on Friday 13 February.
“The pub will be absolutely gridlocked,” Jones continued. “Even though we have 11,000 people nearby, it doesn’t mean we can let our guard down. We still extra hard to keep the prices down and what people would pay for a pint on Monday is the same as a Saturday.
“People might think it could be a little bit of a rough pub but we’re nothing of the sort. It’s a family-friendly club and what we’ve been doing for 17 years, we’ll continue to do and always aim to try to get even better.”
TNT Sports also brought the FA Cup trophy to the pub so plenty of people enjoyed having photos taken with it.
