Drinkaware is kicking off the January transfer window with a new campaign in partnership with iconic drinks brand Jameson, the official partner of the English Football League (EFL), and former England international and football legend Jay Bothroyd.
The campaign encourages football fans and adults to check their drinking habits using Drinkaware’s free Drinking Check - a simple tool to help people moderate their drinking and keep within the low risk drinking guidelines.
In a new promotional video, Bothroyd, well-known for spells at Coventry, Watford and Cardiff City, is unveiled as the campaign’s marquee signing.
The former talisman can be seen urging people to take a moment and check their drinking habits by visiting Drinkaware’s website to take the Drinking Check. Within the video, Bothroyd takes the quiz and receives his own personalised drinking score, encouraging others to follow suit.
Drinkaware, the leading alcohol harm charity in the UK, was delighted to team up with Jameson and football legend Bothroyd to encourage as many people as possible to check their drinking habits this January.
Through Jameson’s fantastic partnership with the EFL, which runs until the end of the 2026/27 season, and Bothroyd’s large social media following, the campaign has the potential to reach millions of people. More importantly, it aims to target those who may not even realise they are putting their health at serious risk.
The shoot took place at AFC Wimbledon, offering an authentic backdrop for the films. Bothroyd was fully engaged and a great sport throughout, making it a fantastic day of filming.
Primarily a digital campaign, it will be featured across the official websites and social media channels of all 72 EFL clubs, as well as on Drinkaware, Jameson, EFL and Bothroyd’s own social media channels. The partnership and campaign support Jameson’s commitment to promoting responsible drinking within football communities across the UK
Why check your drinking?
As clubs and supporters return from the festive break, a period when alcohol consumption is often heighted for many – Drinkaware’s most recent polling shows that almost two-thirds (64%) of drinkers intend to drink more - the campaign comes at the perfect time to consider your alcohol intake and ensure its not putting your health at serious risk.
That’s why the Drinkaware Drinking Check asks you questions about your drinking and provides advice on how to have a healthier relationship with alcohol. Studies have shown that the Drinking Check can effectively identify people with risky drinking behaviour. Regularly taking the Drinking Check can help you keep within the Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines of 14 units a week.
More than 8m people in the UK regularly drink above the Chief Medical Officer’s recommended guidelines and the campaign is a timely reminder for people to take a moment to pause and check their drinking following the busy Christmas period. Tools like the Drinking Check provide a simple way for individuals to assess their drinking and provides personalised advice and support to help moderate your alcohol consumption for those that need it.
We are all used to regularly checking our blood pressure and cholesterol so we should be doing the same for our drinking. Drinkaware’s research showed that two thirds (66%) of adult drinkers in the UK, an estimated 30m people, have never been asked to check how much they are drinking. Around 9m people – one in every five – are drinking at “increasing or higher” risk levels, often without realising it.
What is Drinkaware’s Drinking Check?
Drinkaware’s Drinking Check is a quick, three-minute online quiz, which asks you questions about your drinking and explains what your drinking could mean for your health. It is based on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), developed by the World Health Organisation (WHO). This test is widely used by healthcare professionals across the world and in the UK, including the NHS, to assess alcohol consumption and the risk of alcohol-related problems, including dependence. Studies have shown that it effectively identifies people with risky drinking behaviour.
Diving into your own drinking is an important first step to finding out whether you might need to moderate your drinking a bit more. The Drinking Check does this and provides personalised advice and tips on how to stay within the Chief Medical Officer’s low-risk guidelines of 14 units a week.
How does the Drinking Check work?
There are ten multiple-choice questions that cover various aspects of your alcohol use, such as:
- How many alcohol units you drink on a typical drinking day
- Whether you can stop drinking after starting, or need a drink in the morning
- Being unable to remember what happened the night before, or being injured
Your answer to each question is scored from 0-4, depending on the level of risk suggested by your response. The scores are added together to give a total score between 0-40 - the higher the score, the greater the likelihood that you are drinking in a risky or harmful way.
What do the different scores mean?
- 0 to 7 indicates lower risk
- 8 to 15 indicates increasing risk
- 16 to 19 indicates higher risk
- 20 or more indicates possible dependence
The score on any AUDIT test is not a diagnosis of anything by itself. Your score can suggest the presence of a potential alcohol use disorder, but a healthcare professional will be able to offer you advice that considers other factors that are relevant for you – like your age and sex.
To take the Drinking Check, click here.
To see the marquee signing of Jay Bothroyd, click here and to see the former footballer take the test, click here.