Granddad Jacks Craft Distillery are donating bottles of hand sanitzer to local football clubs to help get competitions off the ground

Football Gold Coast walks into a bar…or a distillery as a matter of fact.

FOOTBALL Gold Coast walks into a bar…or a distillery as a matter of fact.

It sounds like the set up to an awful joke but in reality, it’s the reason why our Gold Coast football juniors are set to return to the pitch amid a global pandemic.

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Like most in the hospitality industry, Miami based Granddad Jacks Craft Distillery was hit hard by strict hospitality restrictions and so decided to start producing hand sanitiser using their gin by-product.

Junior football is back with thanks to David Ridden from Grandad Jacks, a sanitiser company that has helped get players back on the pitch. Robina players from left,Lucas Foweraker, Isaac Foweraker, Bill Barber, Logan Schoor, get some clean hands from David Ridden. Picture Glenn Hampson

At one point selling hundreds of litres a day, demand quickly subsided once stores began to replenish with overseas stock, leaving Granddad Jacks with litres of unpurchased sanitiser.

A few weeks ago, Granddad Jacks owner Dave Ridden was chatting to staff member Di Josipovic whose son Joe was about to return to training with Magic United.

After receiving so much support from the Gold Coast community, Ridden and his team decided it was time to give back.

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“It was the perfect storm really, kids needed to get back to sport and our community has been hit hard and there are probably parents of kids out there who don’t have the money for their kids to start playing again,” Ridden said.

“The Gold Coast community has been fantastic to us since we opened and we wouldn’t be around today if it weren’t for their support.

“It will be awesome to see people using it but we’re also very lucky to be in a position to give stuff away during this time.”

Junior football is back . Robina U/7 players from left,Joshua Clark, Yiannis Lekanis, Evie Woollett, Michael Barber and Kerry Cocoran-Mandiola celebrate.. Picture Glenn Hampson

As part of the deal, each Football Gold Coast affiliated club will be eligible to receive a free carton of 6 x 500ml bottles of the Granddad Jack’s Hand Sanitiser.

Ridden, a football fan by his own admission, said his brand were humbled to play a small role in juniors returning to community sport.

Junior football is back . Robina players and brothers Lucas Foweraker 7 and Isaac Foweraker 10 celebrate.. Picture Glenn Hampson

“In the hospitality game, you get home pretty late at night and can’t get to sleep straight away so I’m usually up watching football games and replays,” he said.

“I love watching a good game of football and listening to a heap of podcasts by football players around the world so I’m pretty passionate about the game.”