Real ale is a reasonable expectation in many lower league grounds (Durham CAMRA is a particular champion of their County’s teams), where clubhouses are free to all. I can actually only recall a couple of league clubs where handpumps were a feature in the halftime catering; at Colchester’s new ground which had an attractive cask of Nethergate, and today at Cambridge where I was treated to that rarest of local beers, Greene King IPA, in fine condition.
Every year Manchester City ask me to complete a survey and ask how my “customer experience” could be improved and ever year I say “Real ale at the Etihad” and every new season it’s Amstel, again.
One of my retirement aims was to get to watch soporific County Cricket at Worcester and Hove (good pubs and cheap hotels for overnight stays), where I expect real ale is a feature, but those joys will have to wait.
