Premier League legends Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher visit Royal Dyche pub ahead of Burnley opener with Man City

The Sky Sports duo, who between them boast 908 Premier League appearances, kicked off Sky’s Friday Night Football show with a visit to the popular Yorkshire Street boozer where they mingled with supporters and chatted to owner Justine Bedford.

"They were brilliant,” she said. “They absolutely loved it as well. I knew they were coming down to the pub, but I didn't know until the day before that they'd be interviewing me as well. Obviously, it's really intense – it's 4pm on a match day, it's the first game of the season, it's busy, it's sunny, and it was a bit overwhelming. But it was so good.

"[Gary and Jamie] actually walked down from the Turf, which is a shame given how Yorkshire Street looks at the moment. But we did our best to give them a proper Burnley welcome. I'd told a few people they were coming down, but not everyone knew, and when they walked into the beer everybody started cheering and clapping them, which was great. Some of the lads started chanting 'Who are ya?!', so then Gary Neville was having a bit of a laugh with them. It was a really welcoming atmosphere.

"Gary kept asking me questions about the pub, because I think he's involved in hospitality. He asked how long I’d been here, so I told him 10 years. He said, ‘Do you own it?’ When I said I bought it five years ago, he said, 'Incredible'. He asked, 'Do you make money?' I said I do now that I own it, and since things have been getting busy since Covid. Somebody laughed, but he said, 'No, I'm being serious. I know how hard this industry in'.

"And then he kept telling me I need to put my prices up. He said we were too cheap.

"Honestly, they were so friendly. Stopping to take pictures with people, shaking hands with everyone. It was really special to see.”

Royal Dyche customers have become accustomed to rubbing shoulders with famous faces in recent times.

NFL superstar JJ Watt, who again popped in ahead of the City game, is a huge fan, while the man himself, Sean Dyche, honoured his promise to visit the pub last year.

The name change, from the Princess Royal, came in 2018 when Justine, while the Clarets were sitting fourth in the Premier League in December, jokingly wrote on an A Board outside: "Sean, Get us into Europe and not only will you drink here for free...we will name this pub The Dyche.”

The Clarets went on to finish seven, securing European football for the first time in over half-a-century. And Justine kept to her word.

"The last five years have been incredible,” she said. “I don't know how long this type of coverage is going to go on for, and I want to use it to shine the best possible light, not just on the pub, but on the town as well.

"It wasn’t just Gary and Jamie on Friday. We had Heart Radio there during the day, and Premier League Production kept nipping in and out. Cody from Dude Perfect came in as well. That was quite early, so it was good to sit down and have a proper chat with him. He said it was just so nice walking through the town centre, and having all these youngsters asking for pictures. JJ nipped in as well.

"It's obviously good for us, but it's great that they're going in other bars and restaurants around the town as well. It's just so, so good for the town, and that's what it all about – promoting Burnley.”