Why watching the FA Cup 'with' Budweiser won't be everyone's glass of beer

By Brian Reade

Published 21:03 23/12/11

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It's only beginning to dawn, with the third round in sight, that the oldest cup competition in the world is now called “The FA Cup with Budweiser.”

Not the Budweiser FA Cup, as that would sound like they were endorsing alcohol. No, the FA Cup with Budweiser. Which sounds like they’re endorsing filling a very large silver pot with, erm, bottled lager.

The problem is this lucrative sponsorship deal could backfire on the FA due to British drinking snobbery.

Budweiser is not universally liked over here. In fact many drinkers regard it as gassy American water.

So when someone asks if you want to come round to their house to watch “the FA Cup with Budweiser” they may get the reply: “I’d rather watch the FA Cup with a bucket of cold sick, thanks.”

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I was pleased Bolton won at Blackburn because had they lost there was a strong possibility Owen Coyle may have been sacked.

Problems are mounting at a club seriously in debt and about to lose Gary Cahill next month to ease it. Injuries to key players haven’t helped either. But Coyle is a good manager who plays good football. Given the chance he could prove to be a great one.

I hope he keeps Bolton up because failure would not just spell his end at the Reebok but that club’s flirtation with playing the game the right way.

Relegation will make some fans look back to Sam Allardyce’s agricultural management days and label it a golden era.

Which would indeed be a sad day for all.

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