The Best Pre-Match Bars Around Premier League Grounds
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For many football supporters, the match day experience is about far more than the game itself.
A fan watching their team in person for the first time might visit the club shop or take selfies at the ground.
Regular attendees are far less likely to indulge in these activities, but they will have their own rituals, which might include having a flutter in the goal scorer markets.
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Chances are their day will also involve meeting their mates for a drink before (and probably after) the match.
With games in the Premier League being all-ticket affairs, there is no requirement to be at the ground particularly early before kick-off to secure a spot. As such, pubs nearer stadiums are inevitably popular.
But how many options are there? We’ve taken a look and there is a wide variety of drinking options depending on which team you support.
For this study, we’ve totted up how many pubs and bars are within a 0.5 mile walk of each Premier League ground, according to Google Maps.
This is not a perfect system. Supporters with local knowledge may know of establishments which don’t immediately appear in search engines, and they may also be aware of shorter walking routes than those offered online.
Half a mile is also an arbitrary cut-off, and most stadiums had plenty of drinking options just beyond our chosen boundary.
We have also excluded bars inside stadiums as very few of them have been reviewed and we’d rather steer you in the direction of the best the area has to offer.
Here are how many pubs and bars each Premier League ground in 2022-23 has within half a mile, and what the average Google rating is for those places.
There are certain factors which help to determine whether a football club has lots of drinking establishments nearby.
Newcastle and Wolves are located near the centre of their city which inevitably means there are pubs galore; we drew the limit at 15, there may be more. Similarly, most stadiums in London are at an advantage in this respect too.
It can’t be coincidence that many of the more recently built grounds are near the bottom of the table either, as they are constructed where space is available and that can make them somewhat isolated.
Other stadia, such as those of Fulham, Leicester and Nottingham Forest, have a river running along one side which automatically reduces the possibility of nearby taverns.
The above table uses Google reviews as every single location in the study has one. However, the assessments inevitably vary in the number of contributors who offered an opinion.
To level the field a little, we have taken a further two reviews – from the likes of Trip Advisor, Yelp and Hey Bars – and compiled a score out of 15 for the eight teams who have at least eight pubs and bars within half a mile of their ground.
On Google reviews alone, Liverpool would top these standings, but by looking at appraisals from a trio of sources, West Ham United have the best local drinking options.
This is interesting as West Ham supporters were not all in favour of their move to the London Stadium.
While that was for reasons which go beyond the nearby pubs, they do at least seem to have some excellent drinking options.
And while the Hammers possess the best overall selection, they must settle for the silver medal when it comes to the best single nearby venue for drinking, with the Blues and Bourbon bar in Newcastle topping the chart.
Chelsea and Everton each have four of the top 20 so could argue that they have the best selection.
It’s interesting that only a quarter of the pubs in this leading group are within 0.2 miles; is there an advantage to being just a little further out?
The bars with a little distance between themselves and the stadium are likelier to be quieter, which could be a positive aspect depending on your persuasion.
It’s entirely possible match going fans who have intimate knowledge of these watering holes may hold contrary views.
But the wisdom of crowds has highlighted the above drinking dens as potentially worth checking out. And if you disagree, you can always add your own review online!
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