Football Pie Connoisseur - We Have A Winner!

Local Wigan Fan Wins Football Pie Connoisseur Competition

Over the last month, we have been searching for the ultimate Football Pie Connoisseur – a competition awarding the dream job for any football fan: eating and reviewing matchday pies. 

After many passionate football fans staked their claim for the title, we can now reveal that our unique, pie-eating winner is… Ian Coulton from Wigan – many congratulations! 

The 50-year-old Wigan Athletic supporter is no stranger to football meat pie contests, having previously won the ‘World Pie-eating Competition’ in both 2013 and 2023. He even featured on The One Show in 2014, and his achievements were celebrated in The Sun in 2023. 

Wigan is undoubtedly the pie capital of the UK, with local Wiganers famously known as “pie-eaters”, and a whole culture built around the savoury treat. Some of you might even have heard of the Wigan Kebab, a regional delicacy consisting of two rolls (barm cakes) covering a delicious pie.

So what better place for our new connoisseur to call home? And better still, Ian is also a committed supporter of Wigan Athletic, who will channel his love for his club with his experience in pie-eating competitions – the perfect fit for a football ground pies reviewer. 

Commenting on his win, Ian said:

“I am happy to have won the competition and look forward to tasting the pies (as well as watching the football!). I enjoy eating a pie, and so it will be interesting to give a review for each one. The experience will give me the opportunity to get to know different pies and get to know which pies are worth eating again at the matches.”

We had many excellent candidates apply for this position, but ultimately, there could only be one winner!  The standard of entries to this competition was exceptional, but Ian’s experienced background and enthusiasm for pie tasting really blew us away. We’re delighted to have found someone with the right blend of imagination and expertise to honour many football fans’ passion for a good old matchday pie. We’re excited to see his reviews and thoughts in the following months.

As a reminder, this was a competition available to all fans of lower league clubs (League 1, League 2, and National League) to have their away day trips (from November to mid-January) paid for in exchange for a review of the football pies at each stadium. 

We encourage all footy fans who missed this opportunity to look out for any competitions that may come up in the future. In the meantime, why not make use of these printable Premier League bingo cards for some extra fun with your mates on matchday?

Ian’s Journey

Wigan Athletic have had a bit of a rocky start to their season. Currently sitting at the bottom end of the table, the next few games will be crucial for the Latics’ position in the league. 

The away fixtures that Ian is set to attend during the competition period are as follows:

• 13 December 2025 – Huddersfield Town (12:30pm)
• 26 December 2025 – Bradford City (3pm)
• 29 December 2025 – Burton Albion (7:45pm)
• 4 January 2026 – Cardiff City (3pm)
• 24th January 2026 – Doncaster Rovers (3pm)

This will be a fairly tough challenge for Wigan, with three of the five teams currently surrounding the top 6 promotion spots. It will also require some long travelling distances for Ian, with journeys through Yorkshire, Staffordshire and even a trip to Wales. 

Notable pies that are available at the stadiums include the Bluebird Steak and Welsh Ale Pie at Cardiff City FC, the Chicken Balti Pie at Huddersfield Town FC and Pukka Pies available at Bradford City FC. 

Only time will tell how the results of these fixtures will play out – but if you have any predictions about upcoming games, you can always check out the best football betting sites to stake a wager on several exciting matches. 

Whatever the results, we wish Ian the best of luck on his journey, where his pie-eating experience and love for football will certainly come in handy.

We now all wait eagerly for his upcoming reviews, and once again wish him a huge congratulations on becoming the ultimate football pie connoisseur!