Dan Walker’s Football Pie Focus

Pierate in attendance at the BBC Radio 5 Live Price of Football Debate

With a selection of Football Club directors, an ex-player in Kevin Kilbane and current one in Frank Lampard, some passionate fans and Pierateer Rob in attendance, BBC Radio 5 Live hosted a debate on the Price of Football Survey in Etihad Stadium, Manchester. While the main debate focused on the price of the actual match day ticket, there were a few brief mentions of pies and a chance for Pierateer Rob to give his view (as a Wycombe Wanderers fan) on the cost of a ticket, rather than the price of pies.

Pierateer RAS and fellow football pie fan Dan Walker

It was also an opportunity for Rob to meet Kieran Maguire who is an expert in Football Finances and a keen supporter and pie eater at Brighton and Hove Albion FC. He rates Brighton’s pies – supplied by British Pie Awards winners Piglets Pantry – as the best in football, so we will definitely have to take up their kind offer of going to rate their pies sometime soon! We hope to get Kieran’s opinions on the price of football pies in the near future too!

However, alongside meeting Frank Lampard and Danny Wilson (Sales Director at Manchester City), the pielight of the trip was talking football pies with presenter Dan Walker after the show.

Pierateer RAS joined guests at the Etihad Stadium

Dan, for the few who don’t know, is presenter on BBC’s Football Focus and is a big fan of the half time pie. Like us, he sees eating a half time pie as part of the football match day package. He specifically recommended the pie at Kidderminster, which does come with quite a hefty price tag in the latest BBC Price of Football Survey as the most expensive pie in football (though Harriers fans defend this tag by arguing it is more of a meal than just a pie). Unfortunately the half time snack at Kidderminster doesn’t meet our strict Pierate requirements for a pie, as it is really a potato bake and has no pastry.

He also highlighted the vegetarian pies at Forest Green Rovers as ones to try – which I know for a fact is already on the pie hit list of Pierateer SJL. However only in exceptional circumstances would Dan be willing to pay £4 or more for a match day pie, agreeing with us that it is more the quality of the pie that is important, rather than the price per se.

Dan joins celebrities such as David Beckham and Barack Obama as celebrities who love pie!

You can find out what we believe makes the piefect football pie in our article “The Pies of Football”, which looks at the results of the BBC Price of Football survey and also includes our review of the new Pork, Irn Bru and Chilli pie at Morecambe FC!

RAS