Rooster’s Brewing Co. played host to the first ever live show for the Comedians Playing Fantasy Premier League (CPFPL) podcast, hosted by Jon Richardson (8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, Meet The Richardsons) and Matt Forde (Spitting Image, Have I Got News For You).
The live event took place on Sunday December 11th, with tickets selling out in less than five days. Fans of the podcast, which was recently shortlisted for Podcast of the Year at The Football Supporters Association Awards, were treated to an intimate and unique show held at the Harrogate-based brewery’s onsite taproom.
The show included many of the regular features listeners to the podcast have come to enjoy on a weekly basis and was recorded live for release later this week. It also served as an opportunity for the hosts to perform a forfeit amnesty, while Vinny Van der Veet, the podcast’s mascot also made a surprise appearance.
Speaking about the event, Rooster’s Commercial Director, Tom Fozard said: “I’m not sure hosting a live podcast recording with two of the country’s most highly respected comedians is something many people would expect form a brewery, but I was delighted we were able to make it happen and would like to thank Jon, Matt and Danny (the podcasts’ producer) once again for trusting Rooster’s to play host to the first CPFPL live show.”
The independent Brewery joined forces with the popular comedy and sports podcast for their second season earlier in the year, becoming a sponsor for the 22/23 season, where hosts, Jon and Matt, discussed the Brewery and Taproom while sampling a selection of Rooster’s beers across eight episodes.
The podcast loosely follows a Fantasy Premier League (FPL) of 30 of Britain’s most famous comedians, including: Josh Widdicombe, Alan Davies, Rob Beckett, Richard Osman, Iain Stirling and Russell Howard, intertwined with observations of Jon, Matt and their guests’ lives. As one reviewer summed it up “it’s 10% FPL, 90% nonsense”.
This is not the first time Rooster’s Taproom has played host to renowned comedians. Britain’s Got Talent finalist, Micky P Kerr, curates a monthly comedy night (Really Funny Comedy) to be held at the Taproom on the last Thursday of the month. This event has attracted comedians such as Brennan Reece, Troy Hawke and Eshaan Akbar. The success of the night will see comedians Maisie Adam and Josh Pugh to join host Micky P Kerr in the coming months.
Ends
For further information, please contact Tom Fozard on tom@roosters.co.uk or 01423 222312.
Rooster’s Brewing Co. www.roosters.co.uk
Comedians Playing Fantasy Premier Podcast https://twitter.com/ComediansFpl
Another Slice https://www.anotherslice.com/cpfpl
Really Funny Comedy https://www.roosters.co.uk/pages/really-funny-comedy
Notes to Editors
About Rooster’s Brewing Company
Rooster’s Brewing Co. has always been an independent, family-run brewery, focussed on creating quality new world pale ales, with an emphasis on flavour and aroma.
It was established in 1993 by the pioneering brewer Sean Franklin, who developed a new style of beer that had, up to that point, never been tried in the UK before. At a time when most breweries were taking flavour out, Sean was trying to put more in, using imported flavourful hops from the west coast of America.
His pioneering and innovative approach began to turn heads, with Rooster’s flavour-packed beers standing out in a sea of brown beer – with its flagship pale ale, Yankee, leading the way. The awards began to pour in, with Rooster’s beers winning gold medals at the biggest and most renowned international and national beer awards.
Having won pretty much everything there was to win, in 2011 Sean decided to retire and chose to sell the brewery to Ian Fozard and his sons, Tom and Oliver, in a move that ensured Rooster’s would remain a family-owned brewery.
Ian has had an affinity with beer for over forty years, having been an active member of CAMRA since the 1970s and the founder of Market Town Taverns, which grew into a portfolio of 15 bars and pubs across Yorkshire.
Oliver, who has been brewing professionally since 2000, became the head brewer at Rooster’s, and Tom, also an active brewer, became the company’s commercial director. Oliver was awarded Brewer of the Year in December 2020 by the British Guild of Beer Writers.
In 2018, it became clear that Rooster’s was rapidly outgrowing its site in Knaresborough and in 2019 the decision was made to invest in a new state-of-the-art brewery and taproom. Finding the right location, that offered Rooster’s the opportunity to become part of the fabric of the local community wasn’t easy, but the team were delighted when the perfect space became available at Hornbeam Park in Harrogate. Over the course of 2019 and the early part of January 2020, the company created a bespoke, state-of-the-art facility that it now calls home, in a move that saw it return to the town where Rooster’s was first started some twenty-seven years earlier.
Press release from Rooster’s Brewery.
For further information, please contact Tom Fozard on tom@roosters.co.uk or 01423 222312.