October 26th, 2026
Cara Churchman

The Royal Dyche: Burnley’s Sporting Heart Crowned Community Pub Hero 2026

Introduction

The Royal Dyche in Burnley has been named PubAid Community Pub Hero 2026, taking the overall title as well as England's Community Sport Hero at the PubAid Community Pub Hero Awards 2026. The pub has become a home for grassroots sport, Clarets fans and anyone looking for good company.

What they did

Since opening as The Royal Dyche in 2018, owner Justine Bedford and her team have built a sporting community around the pub. They set up their own side, The Royal Dyche FC, which plays in the Burnley Sunday League and is treated to sandwiches back at the pub after every match. The pub also runs two pool teams and a darts team.

Every Thursday afternoon, ‘Turf Talk’ invites older residents in for a free cuppa and football chat, helping to tackle loneliness. The pub works closely with Burnley FC in the Community, and its ‘Little Longside’ mini football stand, where seats are sponsored in memory of loved ones, raises money for the charity.

The pub sponsors a wide range of local sport, from hockey, snooker and boxing to cricket, golf and, from September 2026, Burnley Netball. The team also takes on challenges for local causes, including a 24-hour padel challenge for a local mental health charity and the Pedalling to Pubs ride in support of hospitality industry charities.

The community reaction

Regulars get behind everything the pub does, and the team proudly flies the flag for Burnley. The Sunday league side’s ‘Star Man’ award recognises good character as well as good football, with the winner celebrated back at the pub.

Impact

The Royal Dyche shows how a local pub can help keep grassroots sport going while giving people of all ages a reason to get together. Its partnership with Burnley FC in the Community supports projects that improve physical and mental wellbeing through sport.

Summary

From Turf Talk to the touchline, The Royal Dyche proves that pubs and community sport strengthen each other. Its win as PubAid Community Pub Hero 2026 recognises a team that says yes to its community time and time again.

Competition Terms & Conditions

General T&Cs

All people who fully complete and submit the survey will be entered into a prize draw
Winners must be a publican, pub owner, pub manager or similar at a UK pub establishment
There are three prizes available
- Two Premier League tickets with hospitality fulfilled by Sky Business
- Two Premier League tickets to a game of your choice fulfilled by Diageo
- Two Premier League tickets to a game of your choice fulfilled by Diageo
Prizes cannot be exchanged for cash equivalents
Winners will be notified by email using the email address provided when completing the survey
The survey will close no later than 31st August
Winners will be notified after this date
Winners must be 18+ and be UK residents
Max 1 entry per person per purchase per email address
In entering, you confirm that you are eligible to do so and are eligible to claim the prize
If a winner does not respond to email correspondence informing them they have won, and accepted their prize within 10 days from original contact they will forfeit their prize and an alternative winner will be contacted
Winners that do not fulfil the requirements set out in these terms and conditions will be disqualified.
All entrants are deemed to have accepted all terms and conditions set out here and below by participating in this Promotion.

Prize details:

Two Premier League tickets with hospitality fulfilled by Sky Business - to a game of your choice from a select list. Eligible for 2026 Premier League home games in the 2025/26 season

Two sets of two tickets from Diageo

Eligible for 2026 Premier League home games in the 2025/26 season
Each Winner to share four options for desired game, Diageo to then confirm which of the four options it can fulfil (dependent on availability)
Entrants are asked to refrain from sharing details of the Promotion (including these terms and conditions) with anyone under the legal purchasing age of 18 years old.
The winners and any guest(s) must be over 18 in order to attend the prize. 
 The winners and their guest must be available to attend the specified Premier League match specified by and may be required to provide photographic ID upon entry.
The prize does not include any other costs or expenses which shall be the sole responsibility of the winner and their guest.
Winners and their guests are responsible for the behaviour of themselves and their guests whilst enjoying the prize.
Winners and their guests will be subject to the relevant ticketing terms and conditions and any and all relevant ground rules. 
Diageo reserves the right in its absolute discretion to exclude a Winner and/or guest from participation in the prize if a Winner and/or their guest fails to comply with the directions of  Diageo or any companies associated with the prize or the Winner and/or guest acts in a manner that is dangerous to themselves or to the public or is anti-social in any manner or which causes a disturbance or nuisance to others.
Diageo shall have no responsibility for any cancellation or curtailment of the match for any reason.
Winners and their guests shall not, while using any match tickets, display or publicise any political slogans or homophobic language, images of a lewd or explicitly sexual nature, images containing logos of competitors and overt brand sponsorship or anything else deemed to be ambush marketing or an abuse of the match, content which is defamatory, obscene, illegal, vulgar, offensive or otherwise unsuitable or infringes others’ rights (including intellectual property rights) or reflects negatively upon the match or the match event organisers.
Whilst Diaego will take all reasonable steps to ensure Prize fulfilment, it shall not be liable in any way for its inability to meet these timeframes resulting from factors outside of their control. It will fulfil its obligations as soon as is reasonably possible after its and/or its third-party fulfilment providers resume business as usual.
The tickets for the match will be delivered via email to the email address provided upon entry before the date of the match. You must have downloaded the app and set up an account in order to receive your tickets.
Entry to the Premier League stadiums is subject to normal conditions of ticket entry. All tickets are “home” tickets and you must be a home or neutral supporter to attend the match. Away fans are not permitted in the “home” section of a Premier League stadium. Winners are subject to screening by Premier League football clubs ("Clubs") based on their conditions of entry and we are not liable if you or any person accompanying you is refused entry because you do not meet these conditions.
Each ticket is issued by the relevant Club subject to the terms and conditions of entry, which are available from the Club and will be provided to you with your prize. The use of a ticket to enter a Club's stadium constitutes acceptance of that Club's terms and conditions of entry. The ticket shall remain at all times the property of the issuing Club.
Clubs reserve the right to eject from a stadium any person who fails to comply with applicable terms or conditions of entry.
If the Winner or their guest are the subject of a current Banning Order under the Football Spectators Act 1989 (as amended), you will be refused entry to all Premier League Club stadiums and the prize will not be fulfilled
The prize is non-transferable and there is no cash alternative. Diageo reserves the right to substitute the prize with a prize of equal or greater value if circumstances make this necessary.
Diageo reserves the right to disqualify any winner whom it determines has used multiple names or email addresses to enter the Promotion and to require them to return any prize they may have won. The Diageo will verify the eligibility of all entrants. Diageo will require as much information as it considers reasonably necessary for this purpose and the Prize may be withheld unless or until Diageo is satisfied with the verification. Entrants who use anonymous email services such as, but not limited to, GuerillaMail, Dispostable, Mailinator or Apple’s “Hide my Email” feature will not be entered into the Promotion. Entries using artificial intelligence (AI), or any automated tools will not be accepted. We reserve the right to reject any entry that we believe, at our sole discretion, does not meet these criteria.
Diageo will not be liable for non-delivery of a prize caused by the provision of wrong information or other causes beyond Diageo’s control.
Diageo will use your personal information only in accordance with these terms and conditions and its privacy policy which can be found at https://footer.diageohorizon.com/dfs/assets/www.diageo.com/PrivacyPolicy_en.html?locale=en-gb.
We will only use your personal information for the purpose of carrying out the Promotion.
Entrants to the Promotion can, at any time (including at or before the time of entry), object to all or some of their personal information being made available in accordance with paragraph 24 by emailing consumercare.GBandIreland@diageo.com. However, the Promoter shall provide the information set out in paragraph 24 upon request from such competent authorities (including without limitation the Advertising Standards Authority).
The Promoter reserves the right to withdraw, amend or terminate (temporarily or permanently) these terms and conditions or the Promotion with or without prior notice where it becomes necessary to do so due to any unforeseen circumstances outside its reasonable control (including, without limitation, in the case of anticipated, suspected or actual fraud or in the event of technical or other difficulties that might compromise its integrity).
No correspondence will be entered into concerning the result and the Promoter’s decision in all matters relating to the prize draw is final.
The Promoter and its agents accept no responsibility for entries that are not received for any reason or difficulties experienced in submitting an entry to this Promotion
The Promoter is not responsible for computer or network problems, problems with servers, other programming, electronic or technological failures/errors/malfunctions of any kind or the failure to receive any emails or inability to contact the potential prize winner for any reason whatsoever.
While nothing in these terms and conditions will limit the Promoter’s liability for death or personal injury caused by its negligence or for fraud, the Promoter will not be legally responsible to entrants or winners for any losses that were not foreseeable to the Promoter or to the entrant at the time of entry to the Promotion or which are caused by a third party
This Promotion and these terms and conditions are governed by English law and subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.
Entrants are deemed to have accepted these terms and conditions by participating in this Promotion.

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