OMG! May 2014 Edition

OMG! May 2014

ORCHID MONTHLY GOSSIP

PLATINUM PARTNERS

201 4!

BOXY FOXY!

Page 3

Orchid Summer Drinks Promo

Pages 10 & 11

an orchid inspiration!

the WOODPecKeR ARe At It AGAIN!

Pages 6 & 7 OMG OMG

Page 13

K

MOST PAGE LIKES!

Y

RIO M cOY’S LOcAL c

Facebook

M

Pages 8 & 9

Page 5 C

m it h V ic k i S Or pingt on , art W hite H

2 OMG! May 2014

Message from the editor... quality Easter I trust you had a your chocolate at th d Weekend an tisfactory. demolition was sa re made Hopefully you we Mini d aware of the Orchi s, ye Egg Sweetizza and g in th al that's a re one to wn do it d le hot-tai ht rig ck of our PKBs to tu on gs Eg i in in. Though M d as a pizza may soun a ng di fin as e strang iest at pr ic ol th Ca an m Ro taste e th h, a Bar Mitzva g. It in al pe ap y was oddl iss. was one not to m

OMG! Shout-outS!

n features include This month's mai ers 2014 event, the Platinum Partn place at Aintree ok which this year to e’s also a great er Th . se ur co ce Ra ks Promo that piece on the Drin waging, not to s should get tongue arity and news ch l ua us e th n tio men the land of O. ss ro stories from ac us Have a tremendo all.

Pa ul H.

pa u l .ho l ma n@

o .u k

Send your shout-out to Paul Holman at paul.holman@orchidgroup.co.uk

Gina C

@ Red haudry & Lion H otel, P Sarah Ra lph ortsm “I’d like outh to th

ank Gin Ralph a Cha G who wa ina gave CPR udry & Sarah to a gu s stayin est rece g ill. Sara ntl h assis in the hotel an ted with d had fa y more c making ll omforta the pati en ble. It w from bo ent as a th team on ladies. I’d also great effort h li Partner elping me ach ke to thank the status ieve Pla tinum without assista nce it m th ay not h eir help and ave hap pened!”

Ian Durr an Lion Ho t (Manager @ tel, Port smouth Red )

Mikey

@ Whit Horsfall e Har t Hot el, Ho “Mikey ok ha

s work years.

He nee ed in this pu b for 15 ds a m back a ass sh beyond e always goe ive pat on the s to help mainte us out. above and na H everyth nce, gardenin e does in g and alw g really! He is , kitchen, bar a n can ho ys covers any ever off sick ne o Mikey th stly say, if we ne who is. I c e manag re would be ould clone lo ers out in O-La ts of happy nd!”

Ginni M a Hotel, H in (Manager @ ook) White H art OMG OMG

o rc hid g ro u p .c

Super impressed with your team or a specific team member?

Emma

Beard @ Be ehive, Welwy n Gar den C “I’d lov e to giv ity Emma e a big B Orchid and be eard. Emm s h out-o aa y some ond and has lways goes ut to very to ab helped u We thin g us thro ove k she h challenge s in th ugh is grea potenti ep ta a Excelle l… possibly nd has hea ub!! ps a nce' ca ndidate future 'Steps of to to o !”

Matt L om Manag asney-Rob in er @ B eehive son (Deputy , Welw yn Gard General en City )

month one and

OMG! PAGE 3

May 2014 OMG!

3

FOX IN THE BOX! G! M O ON

GET E 3!

PAG

HTY AUG UR N RED O U Y T EA D US ET F SEN G ’S H D AN ONT PICS NEXT M IN ION! IT D E

Here's No re Manager a en Murphy, t in Luton, d the Bramingham ressed in b over the E aster Wee oxes k Staff found end. could've b her singing "We e wanted to en anything we b been return e!" She has now habitat - b ed to her natural ehind the pumps.

O

Ma LLY rke ting

JA Ma KES na ger

C M Y K C M Y K OMG OMG

4 OMG! May 2014

OMG! WHAT ARE YOU

SHOUTING ABOUT! Our very own happy news stories from across Orchid CELEB SPOTTING IN O LAND AD TOBIAS ME UNDS, MINWORTH! O H & nds, @ HARE e Hare & Hou y when th at am te e tl n Th ce re d t excite Minworth go ritain’s Got (B d ea M s ia Tob e an inalist) mad ias F 10 Talent 20 Tob b! pu r ei th in appearance eyefinal with his ce reached the dan g n pi op -p catching body Johnson (Hare & on routine. Shar er) even took ag an M ds n ou H to get a r staff room eir ei th to th Tobias by im photo with h MG! wall.

O Nice touch Shaz!

OW ERIC BRIST BOROUGH! made an AMP, FARN C ristow MBE @ NORTH ckney’ Eric B d had

Co cently an only ‘Crafty rnborough re The one and th Camp, Fa or N shot to fame e c ri th E . at on appearance er Amy Cott ag an M ampionship Ch ith nw darts World al on a picture take si es of his first pr come World when he won went on to be en th r e H .

80 in 19 World Maste a further four on kal w s No. 1 and win hi gh, wasn’t enou It doesn’t titles. If that Chas & Dave. by t’ bi ab ‘R at! th an th music was y ne get more cock

I’M JUST A

HIGHER!

LITTLE WABBIT!

LOWER!

Below are the lucky winners from the ‘Play Your Cards Right’ game at the Shepherd & Dog, Ipswich. The money had rolledover from several games and so the winning team (pictured here) walked away with £700!!!

The Grays Inn, Aberdeen got in the Easter spirit by displaying this gigantic bunny on their roof and offering prizes to the customer who could come up with the best name for the bunny. Suggestions included Chocolate, Fluffy, Betty, Bugs, and Rampant.

The winning name was 'Rufus the Rabbit'!

SONGKRAN THAINEWYEAR! OMG OMG

13th to 15th April was Songkran – Thai New Year! Our Dragon pubs kitted themselves out in style to bring in the New Year. Have a look at the photos from Ardleigh & Dragon, Essex. Beautiful!

Ardleigh & Dragon

May 2014 OMG!

5

CHARITY ALE METER! WE FOLLOW ORCHID PUBS WHO REALLY KNOW HOW TO DO THEIR BIT FOR CHARITY!

White Hart, Orpington

£4,300

Specia

Storyl

Dear OMG, e who works at V icki Sm I am an O-Land employe gt on. In i K e pin y Or in rt S Ha e t t hi W af f Mem t h The h t wi ed os gn dia W s wa be hite Har March 2013 I my brain t , Or pin r @ Chiari, a condition wherespinal column. I gt on had herniated int o my ions on my brain les was also told I had ed by MS. I am which was pr obably causl diagnosis. I've even still waiting or a for ma ly magazine which had an article in a week mentions our pub! a week before surgery You may be aware that myself and my for my brain condition, it y 'head shave' (as colleagues held a char OMG!). This was a mentioned in October’s raised over ££1,000 for roaring success which UK. They are a fabulous my chosen charit y MS-d advice for people and charit y, giving help an af fected by MS. their families that are ed ellum. successful, which inv olv My surgery was ver y d some vertebrae as well as some of my cereb, as you can an ich ull wh sk after surgery removal of some ed meningitis 3 weeks ms fr om MS, Unfort unately, I developry back somewhat. I still suffer minor sympto imagine, put my recove rat hon has helped a lot. but training for the ma d my first have recent ly complete o theme, on d an , t fi ing ht fig I'm sin and Fast for ward 7 mont hs UK. The pub held anot her charit y night , a camy pledge to s Srd M wa for to ht hon nig rat e on th ever ma This raised over ££400 Saturday 1st March. the charit y.

S-UK. You can d over £ £ 4,3 00 for M ise ra ve ha I , 13 20 ne In total so far since Ju still donate now. ite is My Just G iving webs c om / v i c t or i a -s m it h1 7 w w w. ju st gi v i ng . e - 'MSU K85 £5 ' t o 70 07 0. cod and I also have a text who helped raise money Thank you to ever yone are making a dif ference. for MS-UK. You truly

£1400

Here’s a p Keigher hoto of Sue getting re for her 13 ady 1f of the Str t abseil in aid oke Asso The fund ciation.

-r more po aising is even ignant fo r Sue as she rece ntl brothers y lost two of her to money ra strokes. The is this terrif ed will go toward ic s congratu cause. Many lations to wish you Sue, we all the be st.

Fairfield Arms,Audenshaw

ay’? dnesd ie We worth s e n of ‘O the Ains orld t heard Ever hey have a ter! For W e r s t e o l l h w e c l l n W in Ma the team a e, s m r l A y a raff tall m Da Autis s and held cupcake s ith w e a i s s p one la, set u mer pe. custo o tomb tertained dance trou ust n r a e T d d ’s n n n a acts a y hildre clown n Sands C arity - the h a w n e se c disabled Tr o h c he ith was t amilies w holidays. f allow n to go on e childr

£582

Ainsworth Arms,Manchester

Phoebe, a loca l th was diagnosed ree-year-old, w in 2012. Havin ith leukaemia g managed to fight it off, it’s no five-year-old br w returned. Her ot donated his bo her Oliver has ne-marrow an d she is in recovery at th pub held a coffe e moment. The e morning to raise cash for the was a raffle, fa family – there ce-painting, a DJ, dog-groom in more. The mon g and much ey raised wen t towards a fam ily trip to Lapl an so the kids co uld visit Santa. d

Kind regards, Vicki Smit h

£188

Sovereigns,Portsmouth C M Y K

OMG OMG

ing ething amazext m o s e n o d b Has your puTell us about it and be n for charity? OMG!’s Charity Meter! to feature in

6 OMG! May 2014

RIO

c M cOY OMG!: So Jayne. Many congratulations on your incredible achievement. How did this all come about?

Jayne: “It all started with a junk letter through the door. McCoy’s were offering a £150 red letter day to all staff. All they asked was for us to register our pub and then start collecting votes… easy. As I carried on reading, I realised it was actually all about a Trip to Rio for the World Cup 2014!”

OMG!: That’s amazing. So once you’d planned to give this a go what was the plan of action?

McCoy’s recently held a competition – Rio McCoy’s Local – which offered one lucky pub (and some of their customers) the chance to win a trip to Rio where McCoy’s would re-create their local just off the Copacabana.

With over 2,000 pubs entering, OLand's very own Woodpecker in Waterlooville was one of the five to receive the most votes. But that wasn’t all. After a McCoy’s celebrity panel got together to decide their overall winner (a panel which included ‘The Pub Landlord’ Al Murray) the Woodpecker was awarded Runner-Up! I arranged a Q&A with Jayne Tilsley (who, along with Miles Teece, manages the Woody).

Strap yourselves in…

OMG OMG

Jayne: “I was overly excited from the off. Initially I needed to promote the McCoy’s display first, then for the voting I made little slips for all the customers to take away if they didn't have smart phones. The average age of our customers is well over 50 so some of them needed a little bit of help voting - I went around and gave them my iPad to allow them to vote!”

OMG!: How else did you collect votes?

Jayne: “At least four of my customers contacted Portsmouth News to help get the campaign into the paper. I contacted my local Mayor too who posted on his Facebook page ‘HELP THE WOODY GET TO RIO!’ We had great fun hitting the local Town centre shops and getting the shop-owners to help push for further votes.

I contacted Lisa Burbidge at Orchid Office too and she e-mailed everyone at Park Mill asking them to vote too.

Amazing!”

May 2014 OMG!

7

Y’S LOcAL OMG!: So what happened next??

Jayne: “Once the voting had finished, we received our confirmation that we’d made the Top 5! We were then asked to answer some questions as to why we should go to Rio. We had to describe the Woody in five words. We chose… COMMUNITY, SUPRISING, GENEROUS, CHAOTIC, SAFE. To wrap it all up we then had a conference call on my iPad with Al Murray! At least 15 of our customers came in the pub at 2.15pm and joined in the chat. Naturally I introduced Al Murray to Gary & Nerys who were sitting in their pram amongst my customers.

Gary & Nerys are the pub dogs. We then found out the following week that with over 2,000 pubs entering, we were awarded Runner-Up. I was naturally upset to have been so close to winning but have since realised just what a remarkable achievement this actually was.”

OMG!: How did you find the whole experience?

Jayne: “It was indescribable. I have done some truly amazing things outside pub life but this has to be a top lifetime experience. It brought the Woody team together, and made Miles & I realise just what a hub we are to the community and how very lucky we are to have such great customers, many of whom have become friends. I still get stopped in the street with people asking how we did.

Amazing.

C K C M Y K

OMG OMG

Y

The whole adventure took over my life and I became obsessed with it, as did everyone around us! This was just an amazing adventure with an incredible end result. Thank you to everyone who voted!”

M

To celebrate our achievement, I organised a Rio Carnival Party with show girls to join in the fun (a definite customer pleaser). Not only was it great fun, we raised £450 which went to a coffee machine for our local community centre.

8 OMG! May 2014

PLATINUM PAR The highest accolade for pub managers in O-Land is to become a Platinum Partner. To achieve this, a pub must be a ‘Centre of Excellence’. In simple terms… a great pub with a great team.

Platinum Partners get chosen every year after some serious debate from our two Divisional Directors, Darren Traynor and David Campbell, our People & Commercial Director, Simon Dodd, our Financial Controller, Andy Trigwell, our Property Director, Paul Kotrys and, of course, Rufus. Here are the fantastic 2014 inductees…

n C hr is & Ke l ly Br ow A l bi on , B la ck po ol

Sh eel ag h & Mi ch ael Ba ker M on s, B oo tl e

"After returning from the HALO Awards wit h our Shine Award, in walked the postman. Same old rubbish until one envelope struck us as surreal - it had the Orchid symbol on the front! Tentatively opening it , Gary screamed (nothing unusual for him) and revealed that we'd been made P LAT INUM (BLOODY) PARTNERS! We met at the racecourse for the event. The food was awesome, the drink palatable, the champagne tickled our noses, the horse race betting.. crap! Did it matter? No! After the last race we headed to The Mons carvery in Bootle. The staff were amazing, the Bootleg Beatles OMG OMG

f Kar en & Gar y Dy son -H uf Red Lio n Inn , Le ice ster

Ian D urr ant sm out h R ed Li on Ho te l, Po rt

Ste ve Car thy & Gar y Hil l, Bu cca neer, Ea stb our ne

entertained, Rufus kept his shirt on, Ruth (his wife) sang and Jo Probert played guitar. The rest is all a secret, as what happens in 'P latinum Partners' stays in 'P latinum Partners'!

One word of advice to all, live the Orchid Values and become a partner.. you won't regret it!"

Steve Carthy & Gary Hill (Managers @ Buccaneer, Eastbourne)

May 2014 OMG!

9

ARTNERS 2014

M Y

Ian H Durrant (Red Lion Hotel)

C

The day itself was amazing and I’m so proud of the team for helping me to achieve the award. When we arrived at Aintree racecourse, Rufus gave a presentation for us 'newbies' explaining why we had achieved this status. As we sat down for the racing, champagne and a delicious meal were provided, both enjoyed wit h amazing company. I even came away from the bookies nearly £10 up!

In the evening, we had a superb buffet at the Mons. This was followed wit h some music from a Beatles tribute band

The whole day was truly inspirational and conclusive proof of what a great company we are!

Many thanks to Rufus for making it happen, David Campbell and Sharon Ward for being the mentors they are and Lisa Burbidge for bringing the whole event together. Brilliant!”

K

and then a disco. It was so lovely to see everyone letting their hair down!

Y

“I had tears in my eyes reading the letter. I was totally shocked and surprised. My other half said “You soppy old sod - what you crying for?” to which I replied “I’ve just been made a P latinum Partner!”

M

As the event drew to a close, everyone moved to the Mons, Bootle for the evening session where great food and entertainment were A i nt r e e provided by the brilliant Sheelagh and Michael Baker.

A truly unique, one of a kind experience for all involved. Well done to all our Platinum Partners for helping make Orchid what it is today!

C

This year’s event took place at Aintree Races on Grand Opening Day. Everyone met at the Rocking Horse, Aintree where they were welcomed and inducted by Rufus. The entourage were then led to the fabulous Golden Miller Restaurant in the Earl of Derby Stand.

The restaurant is famous for its view which overlooks both the course and the parade ring, a magnificent vantage point for all to enjoy! The day included a three course meal, afternoon tea, live entertainment and much more.

K OMG OMG

10 OMG! May 2014

Orchid Summer Dri Upselling: With our diverse and exciting range of spirits in Orchid, it’s a brilliant idea to look at each product and apply the ‘Good, Better, Best’ rule.

For instance, we start with our entry level ‘Good’ Gin

Gordon’s

Tasting Notes: The bold juniper flavour jumps out with each sip of Gordon’s Gin. This London dry gin is incredibly versatile and can lend a helping hand in an array of mixed drinks. The aromatics of orange peel and anise blend with the scent of juniper to create a well-balanced and tasty gin. Gordon’s Gin is a brilliant example of London dry gin.

GOOD

Then we have our ‘Better’

Bombay Sapphire

Tasting Notes: Bombay Sapphire Gin is one of the more popular premium gins on the market for a very good reason. This London dry gin is one of those that is distinctly gin but not overwhelming on any of the botanicals, which makes it ideal for mixing into any gin cocktail. The flavoring of the drink comes from a recipe of ten ingredients (which the bottle's label boasts as "10 exotic botanicals"): almond, lemon peel, liquorice, juniper berries, orris root, angelica, coriander, cassia, cubeb, and grains of paradise.

BETTER

Lastly we have our ‘Best’

Hendricks

Tasting Notes: Hendrick's Gin is an exciting brand of gin produced by William Grant & Sons in Girvan, Scotland, and launched in 1999. In addition to the traditional juniper infusion, Hendrick's uses Bulgarian rose and cucumber to add flavour.

Hendrick's gin is bottled in a dark blue apothecary-style bottle. Hendrick's suggests that the gin be served with tonic water over ice garnished with cucumber instead of the traditional citrus.

Gwillo says…

The three important components for creating the perfect serve are:

Range:

We have put together a range of spirits based on the principles of ‘good, better, best’. The first key to generating an upsell opportunity is to have the full range of products on the bar in line with your stocking policy.

OMG OMG

BEST

Appearance & Visibility:

Our back bars inspire customers at the point of purchase and are the tool in persuading them to choose spirits and mixers. Spirits should be merchandised on the back bar with the light spirits in the middle and the dark spirits on either side for the best visual impact. Replace bottles as they are sold so that you don’t leave any gaps.

Perfect Serve:

Getting the perfect serve, time after time, is the final piece of the puzzle. Get the right glass, check it’s clean, use plenty of fresh ice and the correct garnish. Pour about a third of the mixer into the spirit and hand both the glass and the mixer bottle over to the customer to allow them to customise their drink to their own taste.

May 2014 OMG!

inks ...

Summer Drinks Incentive: Don’t forget the prize at the end of the rainbow. The Managers who sell the most can look forward to a trip to Oktoberfest, , along with a few other surprises still to be confirmed!!

Get your selling boots on and drive those sales home!

Cocktail Training: “Making cocktails is a fantastic part of my job. It's like a story that has a start, a middle and an end. It's a real sense of pride to me in providing our customers with the finished product, knowing they can relax and enjoy Orchid's great drinks. Training people allows me to share my skills with others and guarantees that customers at other Orchid pubs will also enjoy perfect serve cocktails. I'm also learning new and exciting things every day. Great fun!”

Tom Waite. Barman at the Old Ball, Leeds.

Useful Contacts Training (Josie Adams) josie.adams@orchidgroup.co.uk 07824 412 102

OMG OMG

Branded Glassware (Ella King) ella.king@orchidgroup.co.uk 07826 552 080

Training (Sam Beckwith) sam.beckwith@orchidgroup.co.uk 07584 392 659

11

PROJECT FAIR PLAY Project Fair Play is collecting old footy shirts for children in Rio’s favelas. The best shirts will be sent to the children in Rio with the others recycled to raise money for the Wheelchair Football Association.

O-Land’s staff and customers are supporting the brilliant scheme!

@

T om L o we h ig f o r d z a b et h , C Q u e e n E li

R ob bi e H eato n @ F iv e w a y s , O r m s k ir k

ngto n & Tr ev or P il ki g in ild W a nd A ma ig a n @ S t a g In n, W

S co tt D un n @ G e orge S t e p h e n s on , W a

J ord a n J on es ger) (Are a M a n a

Matt Ba ddele y & M att y M orr is (Are a M an ager s)

Izz y H ar ri s ur y oc k e y , A y le s b @ H or s e & J

ls a l l

R ic ky @ M u d d le G To wer s o N ow h er e , G

ra nt h a m

IT TO PARK MILL, BURYDELL LANE, PARK YOU CAN STILL DONATE YOUR SHIRT SEND STREET, ST ALBANS, HERTFORDSHIRE AL2 2EZ

FOLLOW PFP ON TWITTER AT TWITTER.COM/PROJECTFAIRPLAY

LIKE PFP ON FACEBOOK AT FACE BOOK.COM/PROJECTFAIRPLAY OMG OMG

May 2014 OMG!

13

SOCIAL MEDIA – FACEBOOK FIGURES

PUB PAGES: MOST ‘LIKES’!

It’s the figures you’ve all been waiting for!!

Take a look at your concept below to see if you’ve made the Top 5 Total ‘likes’. If your pub hasn’t made it, don’t fret. Look up the below pages that did make the Top 5 to get some inspiration of how to raise your audience figures. If your pub is mentioned below, many congratulations! Keep up Orchid Pubs & Dining 6011 the fantastic work!

C M Y K OMG OMG

FUZZY ED MASCOT PARTY CHURCH TAVERN, BIRMINGHAM e nt

14 OMG! May 2014

Sal e

le p p u sS

m

Idea “We were trolling the internet for ideas and came across Billy Rae Mascots – one of our son’s companies.”

“I’d seen the success of Breakfast with Santa at other sites and decided to change it to lunch with Santa. This was hugely successful. As I wanted similar success for an event that I could use all year round, I decided to make it ‘Lunch with Mascots’. I contacted the local company ‘Billy Rae Mascots’ and began working with them.”

Event

P lan Met hod: “Billy Rae Mascots bring along the mascot suits and the music for the event. We decided to provide the buffet for the ticket holders and their families.”

“The kids would come into the site with their tickets and gain access to the Fuzzy Ed’s area. The characters then come out one by one and have a meet and greet with the kids. There are then opportunities for the children to have their photo taken with the characters along with other games including guess the TV tune and musical chairs. The mascots then sit down to have dinner with the children.

“The cost for a ticket was £6.99 – we managed to sell all the 32 tickets available for the event.”

C ost : "£70 charge from Billy Rae Mascots."

Pr omotion: “We used Facebook as our biggest advertising tool when promoting the event. Billy Rae Mascots helped by posting the event on their website. We always had leaflets in the pub and promoted the event using our outside advertising boards.

Team Involvement : “Our team members regularly communicated the event to customers and also tagged themselves in all of the photos we uploaded to Facebook, taken from the event.”

FUZZY ED MASCOT Evaluation PARTY CHURCH TAVERN, BIRMINGHAM Total Spend: £70 Net Sales: £350

“We had a little girl who had leukaemia that desperately wanted to attend one of our mascot parties to meet Pepper Pig. She was only released the day before Good Friday but she still managed to come down and have her dreams come true.

It’s hugely rewarding to be able to support our local community with these types of events.”

M Y

(MANAGER) @ CHURCH TAVERN, BIRMINGHAM

C

CONTACT DETAILS: RACHAEL ONYSKO

K OMG OMG

WWW.3DPUBSPORT.CO.UK

MAY

FIXTURES

OMG OMG

May 2014 OMG!

OMG!

Sport

GIVING OUR CUSTOMERS EVEN MORE

15

16 OMG! May 2014

WWW.3DPUBSPORT.CO.UK

FA CUP

FINAL 17TH MAY 2014 ARSENAL VS. HULL CITY WHO’S YOUR MONEY ON? ARSENAL The Gunners lack of a trophy over the past decade is welldocumented, even though. This is in stark contrast with the footballing world’s general belief that they’d become a powerhouse following the Invincible side of the early noughties, a team which included Thierry Henry, Freddie Ljungberg and Robert Pirès but to name a few.

This season started rather stagnantly, with the home fans witnessing a shock 31 defeat to Paul Lambert’s Aston Villa. The Arsenal faithful were calling for Arsène Wenger’s head but, as he’s done many times throughout his North London tenure, results and opinions were reversed, so much so that the Gunners were genuine title contenders right up until February this year.

Many Arsenal fans now believe that a Champions League place and the FA Cup will result in a very successful season for their team. With fourth place pretty much in the bag, it’s all eyes on Wembley on the 17th May. Is this the year that they finally break the duck? Or will being labelled ‘overriding

OMG OMG

OMG!

Sport

GIVING OUR CUSTOMERS EVEN MORE

favourites’ add uninvited pressure to the squad, pressure that could result in a shock defeat? Watch this space!

HULL CITY There’s no questioning the burgeoning bizarreness that has been Hull City’s 2013/14 season. Some excellent signings were secured, which included the double Tottenham swoop of Tom Huddlestone and Jake Livermore, West Brom’s Shane Long and Everton’s Nikica Jelavić.

However, away from the field itself, not all was rosy. Their chairman, Assem Allam, chose to endear himself to the fans in the most unconventional manner by dictatorially declaring the club’s 109-year old name would be discarded like an old diaper for the fruity new name of Hull City Tigers. After an overwhelming negative backlash from fans regarding the change, Assem raged “nobody questions my decisions in my business.” Pleasant man.

For Hull City, a possible FA Cup title would cement a fabulous season for Steve Bruce.

There’s no denying the great work he’s put in since his arrival in 2012. Can he produce an incredible result in Hull City’s first ever FA Cup final and walk away with the trophy?

Stranger things have happened!

Should be a busy day at our three pubs in Hull; Manor Farm, Mill and the Oyster Catcher!