Bene Bombs in The Royal Dyche & learning club songs – How NFL icon JJ Watt has become a pub crawl veteran & fan of swearing youngsters at Burnley

The former American football superstar invested in the Clarets, alongside his former USWNT star wife Kealia, in May 2023. He is fully invested in the Turf Moor project and enjoys regular visits to the United Kingdom. During those trips, Watt throws himself completely into English football fandom.

Watt has told the Men in Blazers podcast of enjoying local tipples in the many pubs that line the streets around Burnley’s historic home ground: “I have now done it three times. I start at The Dyche and make my way down. The last stop I make before I walk to the stadium is Burnley Miners Club and the last thing I get before I go to the game is a Bene Bomb – which is Red Bull, Benedictine in a shot and drop it in just like a Jaeger Bomb. I always make my way down and go in there. Every crowd at each pub is a different type of crowd. I have now learned the different kind of Burnley supporters that frequent each pub. When I go in there, they have my little Bene Bomb ready for me. I take it and walk into the stadium with the rest of the supporters.”

Watt has also embraced the matchday atmosphere at Burnley, with a point made of learning all of the chants and taunts that fellow supporters - including some that are a little young to know such words – have made part of their everyday life. Watt added on his very first experience of Turf Moor: “Everybody is going nuts, high-fiving! There are little kids around me singing the songs – these seven or eight-year-olds are cussing at the opponents and the fans in the away stand. It’s the madness of European football. It’s incredible. On the flight over, I was very adamant about learning the songs. I wanted to be able to sing the songs with them. So I was signing the songs, it was magic.”

Burnley landed the Championship title last season, with Watt forming part of passionate celebrations, and Vincent Kompany is now being charged with the task of steering the club away from relegation danger in the Premier League.