Winner revealed as Warren Byrne from Durham.
Warren beats thousands of hopefuls in Budweiser’s hunt for the UK’s greatest amateur goal.
Warren to receive £50k prize fund to support the non-league club of his choice.
The winner of Budweiser Dream Goal, a hunt for the UK’s best amateur goal of the season, has officially been revealed as 33 year old Warren Byrne from Durham. Warren has beaten thousands of players from across the UK to be crowned Dream Goal winner, and has the once-in-a-lifetime experience of having his screamer analysed on national television by Sky Sports pundits Jamie Carragher, Jamie Redknapp and Ed Chamberlin. He also takes home an impressive £50k grant from Budweiser Club Futures to support the non-league club of his choice.
Warren’s incredible winning goal for his team, South Shields FC, South Tyneside, was revealed on national television during Sky Sports’ main halftime slot, as a dramatic finale for the nationwide competition. His goal will then be given the star treatment that professional goal scorers enjoy, and be analysed and celebrated on TV by some of Sky Sports’ best pundits – Carragher, Redknapp and Chamberlin.
In addition to being crowned winner of Dream Goal 2016, Warren has also won a remarkable £50k grant to support a non-league football club of his choice – a new addition to this year’s prize package provided by Budweiser Club Futures.
Warren says of his win: “I’m still in shock that the pundits chose my goal, especially given there were so many great contenders shown on Sky Sports over the last few weeks! My club, South Shields FC, are completely made up with my win and have already started making big plans for the £50k prize. Getting a call from Carragher, Redknapp and Chamberlin was also an absolute highlight, and one I won’t forget anytime soon – thank you Budweiser Dream Goal!â€
Jon King, Manager at South Shields FC, says of Warren’s win: “It’s about time Warren did something for the club. I mean, banging in dream goals is all good and well, but who’s going to pay to fix the showers? Just kidding – we’re delighted with the windfall, and we’re grateful to Warren for scoring an absolute belter. That goal was certainly worth the prize money. He’s now under enormous pressure to do the same next season.”
Warren’s goal came during a nail-biting game against Tow Law Town in the Northern League Division 2.
Jamie Carragher says of Warren’s win: “I was delighted to be asked to join Jamie and Ed on this year’s Dream Goal pundit panel, getting to see some amazing amateur goals from the British public, and having a lot of fun along the way. The standard of entries this year has been so high it’s incredible – it certainly made picking the winner that little bit harder. We deliberated for a long time, but in the end we all agreed that Warren’s goal had that special something to ultimately win Budweiser Dream Goal 2016.â€
Jamie Redknapp says of the Dream Goal competition: “I’ve loved being part of Budweiser Dream Goal for the second year running, and having the new prize fund this year has been a great addition to the competition; it’s a fantastic opportunity to support grassroots football in the UK, and the £50k grant is definitely well deserved.â€
Laura Salway, Senior Brand Manager at Budweiser, says of the campaign: “Budweiser Dream Goal got off to a flying start when we launched it last year, but this year has been even bigger and better. We’ve had even more goals submitted, more people getting behind the competition and – of course – our amazing new prize fund to support the amateur clubs of our winners and runners up via Budweiser Club Futures.
“Budweiser is a huge supporter of British football – from grassroots to glory – and we’re delighted that we have given Warren, and a number of other contenders, the chance to see their incredible goals celebrated how they deserve to be – on a national stage. Massive congratulations to Warren on being crowned this year’s Dream Goal winner!â€
As part of this year’s new prize package, in addition to the £50k winner’s grant, Budweiser Club Futures is also awarding five £10k grants to runners-up for their outstanding goals. The official runners-up of the 2016 Budweiser Dream Goal competition are:
Chris Bacon – Wisbech Town FC
Raymond Westbrook – Portsmouth Amputees FC
Louis Webster – Home Rangers
Colm Coveney – Blackpool Celtic
Neil Clydesdale – Banbridge Rangers FC
The winner and runners-up will also receive FA training session for their teams.
All of this year’s new prizes have been granted as part of the Budweiser Club Futures programme – a grant scheme run in partnership with The Football Association and The Football Foundation to support grassroots football across the country. Last year, Budweiser announced a new long-term agreement with The FA, which will see the iconic brand become the Official Beer of The Emirates FA Cup until 2018.
