The Famous Cock

The place of today was the lovely and well named Famous Cock in Highbury and Islington (just right next to the tubestation).

And the match of todays choice was: Portsmouth v Chelsea FC. Chelsea who is having a real go at the title, against relegation side Portsmouth.

Portsmouth as we know are having big financial troubles against a Chelsea who has been promised € 100 million for the summer by their owner Roman Abramovich- the teams couldn't be more different.


Atmosphere: Quite empty at the day of my visit, so there wasn't much of an atmosphere expect what seemed to be the pub regulars just having a evening chat.

Rating: M M

Drinks: Not the best of varieties, but a very, and I mean very good price.

Rating: M M M +

Fun: There wasn't a lot to do between the halfes, as it was quite empty and they didn't have anything to play with such as pool tables or other forms of activities.

Rating: M +

Overall rating: M M

Barracuda part 2

The game of today was Manchester United V Liverpool FC. A derby match who needs no introduction.

With Manchester United having a go at the Premier League title, and Liverpool chasing after forth place this was a very exciting fixture.

The Venue of today was the Barracuda Bar- yet again.

My Manchester United fan claims that the pub gives him luck, so I was forced into it. He said that I couldn't appriciate the wonderful bar of South Africa if I hadn't been there during a big game.

And boy was he right.

Atmosphere: It had rose to the occasion and it was packed with fans from both sides. Having a good go at eachother, but in the friendly and nice way that is appriciated.

Rating: M M M M

Drinks: As always a good variety of drinks with prices not being that bad.

Rating: M M M

Fun: The classical pool tables are always fun to play, and also they have the fruity machine which could be amusing, but at this day it all was busy so we just sat down for a chat between the halfes.

Rating: M M M M

Overall Rating: M M M M (A higher rating this time).

Champions League draw

The Champions league draw is taking place tomorrow, you could see it on Skysport news or on eurosport.com

It starts at 11.00.

Looking for Spanish/Italian football

Been looking for somewhere to watch either Italian or Spanish football, so I could make a post about that, have search all over google and around in bars, haven't really found a place. So if someone knows any place where i could watch these it would be thankful =)

Watching football at home yet again.

My friends came over to my place today, and we were going to watch the FC Barcelona V FC Stuttgart.

And I hadn't inteded to write about this in my blog, but I noticed that because that my team didn't play, and my mates came over I lost much interest in the game. I started to get into conversations about all other things and football just went out the window. Although Leonel Messis magic did brought my attention to the football game. But it made me realise that if my team isn't playing and I have friends over the football game comes second.

Atmosphere: Great atmosphere, but it just didn't have anything to do with football.

Rating: M M

Drinks: Everybody brought their own drinks so you would be pretty happy with them I guess.

Rating: M M M M

Fun: We had more fun than anything, so it gives you a good laugh.

Rating: M M M M M

Overall rating M M M +

The Sports Cafe (Finally)

The famous Sports Cafe with seating for 803(!) people located in Piccadilly.
As I know that it would be packed on this day, we booked a table in advance. Because this was no ordinary game-day. It was once again a Champions League fixture. But it was extra special this time: José Mourinho was back at Stamford Bridge. His old nemesis Carlo Ancelotti was coaching the team he brought to high grounds.

It was Chelsea v Inter Milan, and Milan had brought a 2-1 lead to the "bridge".

Atmosphere: It was an super atmosphere, the place was packed it must have been more than 800 people in this place. It felt just as being inside a stadium. Wonderful is not even enough to describe the atmosphere of the evening. (Although it got a bit quiet when Inter Milan scored and Chelsea were out of the tournament). Singing and shouting was heard all over the place, and that is the real way to watch football. there were several big screens (to many to count) so you could quite easily watch the game without being disturbed.

Rating: M M M M M +

Drinks: Very kind and helpful staff, although the drinks were a bit overpricy they had a great variety of drinks from all the corners of the world.

Rating: M M M M

Fun: A lot of different fun things to do, such as playing pool or fruity machines and a lot of people to mingle with, a stay at the Sports Cafe is a very exciting experince and I really recommend it to anyone who hasn't been there.

Rating: M M M M M +

Overall Rating: M M M M M +

Jose Mourinho - The mastermind.

Youtube sidebar

I've put up a youtube side bar who will show random clips of football, this is not clips I myself have choosen, they are just about football. So I hope you will enjoy them =).

Match Of The Day

Today I tried out something that was really hard on my patience. I choose not to watch the game but just to recap the highlights on Match of the day. It was really hard not to at least look up the result of the games of the day. But at the end of the day it did get more exiting watching Match of the day, as you had no idea at all how every game would turn out.

So It was like watching 8 matches in one game actually. I did enjoy it (even though I was about to cry when Arsenal scored in the 93th minute) but I still prefer watching the whole game, as it is much more fun during a longer period of time, and not just for 10 minutes.


Overall rating: M M M +

Memory lane

What's your favorite football memory? Where were you watching the game, or you might even have played it. If you have a strong football memory, dont be afraid to share it in the comments.


My favorite football memory, was Arsenal - Milan at the San siro. Wonderful exiting match with Arsenal coming up on top at the end of the game.

I was at home, and the game was so good that my girlfriend at the time, whom hated football even enjoyed watching (even though she had problems with me yelling at the TV).

Sirocco

Tonight I visited the Sirocco. I quite famous bar, and for the sake of me I cant understand why. I'll come to that later. The game of the evening was the Champions League fixture between Manchester United - AC Milan. Manchester United had a quite comfortable lead in to this fixture, with Milan having to score at least twice on Uniteds home turf.

Atmosphere: The first thing that striked me was that the door staff was really rude, and once we came into the bar, we was hit by a strange, very strange smell that was unbearable to say the least. And you could see that everybody was thinking the same thing, the smell is unbearable, and the rude staff didn't really help. I actually left after the first half, cause I did not enjoy myself a bit.

Rating: - M


Drinks: When I asked for their selection, the staff just told me that they had everything and that I should just order quick because: "they had better stuff to then chat with me all day". So I didn't really get to find out much about there drinks as I didn't find a bar menu either.

Rating: - M


Fun: For the first time I left the bar early, cause of problem with the place I was in. That does quite explain a lot.

Rating: - M

Overall rating: - M (never been to a worse place in my life).

Arsenal v Porto

Today I tried to watch fotball online. I was exhausted after school, and I saw on a Swedish website "I am from Sweden, not just going in on foreign websites :P" that you could watch football online as a Pay Per view service. I really felt left behind as when I went to tell my mates, they told me Sky Sports had been doing it for a very long time.

But the game of the evening was the Champions League fixture between Arsenal v Porto. Porto had a 2-1 lead into this fixture. Arsenal would have to win with at least one goal. Unless Porto score twice then they would have to win with 2 clear goals.

I will rate this a bit differently, as I've already rated how I enjoy watching football at home, if you did not read that bit you can go to the post HERE

So I decided to rate it by: Quality, Enjoy and comfort.

So the quality: It does really depend on what kind of internet speed you have, the better speed you have the better quality you get. My speed was quite okay, so I could watch it without any problems. So not great, but not bad either.

Rating: M M M


Enjoying: It was really dull, sitting and steering into a computer screen while youre favorite team is playing. There wasn't any footy feeling at all. Even though I did celebrate every time Arsenal scored (FIVE! Times) it wasn't quite the same as watching it on a big screen or just your TV.

Rating: M


Comfort: Well you don't have to be at the venue early to get good seats, and you can change your seats whenever you want. But sitting and steering into your computer which is on your lap, gets quite annoying and you do have to re-adjust your seating a couple of times.

Rating: M M M

Overall rating: M M +

The Hero of the day: Nicklas Bendtner

Cheers

No I am not drinking =), I am talking about the Bar on Regent Street. An American Bar that gets it inspiration from the American Tv-Series "Cheers".










This is Normally showing american sports such as American football and baseball, but today they was showing some football, so I thought it would be a great opportunity to try an different atmosphere. Today's game was Everton vs Hull.


Now to the Pub.


Atmosphere: I really felt the American vibe of this pub, but apart from me no one was watching the football, so I did really feel very lonely. And at sometimes I heard jokes about how this wasn't a mans game. But we were only two so we didn't really feel like challenging the Americans. They had four big screens, with two bigger plasma-screens.


Rating: M M



Drinks: A lot, and I really mean a lot of American beers, and almost everybody had a "bud" and the prices was quite good, for it to be in regent street so this was a big upside.


Rating: M M M +


Fun: There isn't much to do, but I saw the giant hamburgers, and I just had to try them, that's really something to recommend if you go past the pub. But there wasn't much fun to do.


Rating: M


Overall Rating: M M

Cannons The Factory

Arsenal was on the Agenda today, the favorite team, so I thought a visit to an Arsenal pub would be great. So the game of the day was Arsenal - Burnley. In later times, Burnley had been quite of a difficult team for Arsenal. So the Arsenal Pub was Cannons the Factory, located at the very home of Arsenal Highbury and Islington.

Atmosphere: A great atmosphere, where all of us gooners had a good sing along and going down memory lane. But I wouldn't fancy your stay here if I was a Spurs, Chelsea, Man Utd or any other fan. This was a Arsenal pub and therefor you will enjoy it at most as a gooner. And as I am a Gooner, This was an very enjoyable stay for me.

Rating: M M M M M +

Drinks: The drinks are quite cheap, and they do have a quite a good variety.

Rating: M M M

Fun: The fact that everybody is an Arsenal fan, does make it quite funny for the Arsenal fans, as you can go down memory lane, speaking of your favorite players and memories. So you do feel right at home if you are a gooner.

Rating: M M M M M

Overall Rating: M M M M

Search bar

I found this great Search Bar where you can search after different pubs and bars in London that are showing televised sport.

I hope it will be as much for help for you as it has been for me.

Missed the weekends actions? Here is a good way to watch football you missed

Footytube - easy to watch football on.

Footytube is a great way to catch up on the football that you missed during the weekend. Maybe you had some studying to do, or maybe it was your friends birthday so you missed your teams action this weekend.

Or if you just missed one game because looking on the other. and couldn't watch match of the day for some reasons.

just go on footytube and watch the highlights of your team, and if you want other teams.

A really great way to watch football - FOOTYTUBE

Great places to watch football

Here is a LINK to a Evening standard article about some great pubs in London. They been quite helpful to me, so it thought I would share it you guys.

The George London

Today I tried a Pub a little bit closer to my home, I choose the George London as my target for the day. It is located at Liverpool Street and in all honesty I actually saw the pub on my way home and saw that they were showing football, and I thought it seemed to be a good place.

The Game of the day was the early one: Chelsea - Manchester City.

Chelsea was running as a train in the league, and Manchester City hadn't won a away game for two months, and with Chelsea not losing a single home match in the Premier League since 2008 it was destined to end up with one result. And with Wayne Bridge facing off Against John Terry during the current scandal with Terry and Bridges ex, it will be quite amusing to see.

Atmosphere: It's a nice and quite plain pub, with two big screens at each side of the room with a quite mellow atmosphere. The big footie fans wasn't there so there weren't much of a football atmosphere there, but it was quite comfortable to sit down and have a look at the game.

Rating: M M M

Drinks: Did not have anything to drink today, because of an illness, but had a quick look at the bar menu, and it was a quite normal menu, with the regular English beers & ales.

Rating: M M +

Fun: There isn't really anything to do between the halfs, or after the game. The people there are mostly buisnessmen/women, who just come down for a quick bite or a bit of the match. And I really didn't feel like bothering one of the busy buisnessmen/women so I choose not to.

Rating: ½ M

What happened with the game, Incredibly enough Manchester City ended up on top, after winning with 2-4.

Goalscorers: Chelsea; Frank Lampard x2. Man City: Carlos Tevez x2, Craig Bellamy x2,

Best way to watch football - At your mates house

My Friend is a very big fan of the Italian team Inter Milan, and always saying how they are the best in the world, and that they will beat English teams whenever wherever. So yesterday it was Inter Milan vs Chelsea FC, so he invited me over to watch the game with him.

We where about 6 people there, one Italian fan "as I like to call him" and the rest of us England fans - no one of os rather like Chelsea, but we all love to see England doing well against other teams.

Well on to the experience, it is quite funny to sit around with your mates watching football, but the 'dangerous' part of it is that it becomes a bit to funny. you don't really concentrate that much on the game and fall in to discussions about who's teams really is the best and what would have happen if they would face off.

But there are good things about it as well, as my friend put it, love the free food.

Watching football with your mates is a great way to have a good laugh but not the best to really enjoy the football match.

I rate it at 2 out of 5 M's

The Northcote London

Todays Match was Manchester City vs Liverpool.

A Fight for the fourth place, with Liverpool: a common face in Englands Big Four, struggling and needing a win against the multi million spending Manchester City, who was in really good place for overtaking the desirable fourth place.

So I went to the Northcote London Pub. Haven't really heard a lot about the pub, apart from my friend who lives close to it, likes it alot. So i decided to try it.

Closest Tube station to the pub is Clapham Junction.

There are two big screens opposite the room, which offers you a good viem from whichever part of the room you sit down in.

The Atmosphere: It is a super relaxed atmosphere with extremly friendly staff which is quite pleasant. But I feel it takes a bit out of the football feeling out of it. You are a bit too relaxed and you really aren't jumping at every chance missed, youre just enjoying the atmoshpere rather then the football.
Rating: M M M M M for comfort M M = For footballing feeling but the overall atmosphere gets Three M's

Drinks: Not very expensive and not very cheap, they land somewhere in the middle, and there wasn't a lot and there wasn't to little - well you see where im going with this, it is quite in the middle.
Rating: M M M

Fun: There isn't many activites to do in the Northcote Pub, but because of the friendly staff and the relaxed atmosphere in the pub time between the halfs fly away.
Rating : M M M +

Overall Rating: M M M.

The Bar Kick

Everton vs Manchester United - was the match of today. So I went to the Bar Kick in Shoreditch. Having heard a lot about it i decided that I would pay it a visit.

The closest Tube to The bar kick is Old Street.











So a little about the game first, Everton vs Manchester United, Wayne Rooney returns to Goodison Park, after leaving the club under negative circumstanses.

Manchester United had a great possibility to further their titleshots if the could put off a win at the Goodison, but after a slow start by the "Toffees" the had really hit a top form and was topping the Premier League form league.

So then, lets talk about the pub.

Atmosphere: Their was a great atmosphere in the pub, with both Manchester United and Everton fans. singing, shouting and trying to encourage their team. And luckily there wasn't any "bad blood" in the pub, the both teams fans were quite freindly and social with eachother. The atmosphere gets 4 out of 5 M's

Drinks: They have a great variety of drinks with a lot of foreign drinks, I even found the beer menu on the home page so have a look to see if your favorite drink is there. MENU
Rating: M M M M

Other: all around the pub there is a lot of football tables so that's something you could do between the halfs or after the game, it is quite fun actually.
Rating: M M M +


Overall Rating: M M M M

Porto Vs Arsenal. Still looking for the best place to watch football

So as I'm still looking for the best place to watch football, I have tried some of different places such as different Pubs, and a betting shop. So for the Porto vs Arsenal Champions League fixture I decided that I would watch it at home.

There is a great feeling of watching your favorite team in your own home, in your own sofa."my favorite team being Arsenal". You decide the volume on the telly, you can sit wherever you please and if your team isn't doing that well you don't need to hear the other team shouting and celebrating. And if your not living with a lot of flatmates or a big family there isn't a big queue to the toilet.

but there is downsides as well, it isn't as funny as being in the pub with your mates and enjoying your team beating the other. and sometimes you do wanna see the misery of the other teams fans, wondering why the are facing defeat.

Atmosphere: You can create your own atmosphere, so however you want it you can have it.

M M M M M

Drinks: Im always prepared with whatever I might fancy during the game, might be some chips and just one beer. On the other hand on those heavy days when the Arsenal aren't doing so well, I bring out the tequila. So be prepared and it will be perfect.

M M M M M


Fun: Well I have a PS3 at home so between the halfs I usally play a little FIFA 10 or go on my computer and internet surf. So I can enjoy myself quite a lot during halftime or after the games.
Best part about it as that directly after the game, your at home no need for a long bus or tube ride home.

M M M M M


Overall rating: M M M M M

Watching football matches in 3D ?

Found an interesting piece on the Guardian news site.

The 11th of June 2010 could be a historical moment. The TV-company ESPN has decided that they will use the opening match of the World Cup "to unveil the first dedicated 3D television network" so that viewers can be able to watch the glory of football matches in 3D.

But it will cost you your shirt at first, the cost of getting the televisions that are 3D-ready will cost over 2000$ to begin with.

This will create a way to make you feel as if you were in the stadium even though you're actually sitting at home.

This will be groundbreaking and a revolution in how we watch football in the modern day. For me the HD quality is still unbelievable, but now they are making it even better. Thumbs up from me!

Even though it will probably take a year or two until we can watch 3D matches quite normally. But I can not wait for the day, when we can.

THATS A GREAT WAY TO WATCH FOOTBALL ! =)

Link to the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/jan/06/espn-3d-world-cup-ces

The Sports Cafe

I was supposed to watch the Milan v Manchester united game at the famous sports cafe in Piccadilly last night, but I didn't go.

Coming home from school yesterday I had a big headache and felt a bit ill. And due to the weather that wasn't the greatest I choose to stay at home and not risk being sick.

But that's not the end for the sports cafe for me, I will stop by for another Champions League fixture next week.

Porto v Arsenal tonight, Very excited.

Venue: Home.

When there is no live football ...

A regular monday without football, but you aren't satisfied with the dose you received this weekend.

A great way to watch football when there aren't any on the telly is Youtube. They have a whole bunch of football clips from almost every Premier League season including interviews and great goals.

You can relive your favorite football moments just by simply searching after what you want to see.

click to get to Youtube.

I thought that I would share some of my own favorite videos:

The first one is the most Dramatic moments in modern football.

This one is the top ten goals of 2009, according to FIFA.

I hope you enjoyed them.

Tomorrow I'm off to the Famous Sports Café in Piccadilly Circus, never been there before.

Lookin forward to it.

Have a nice day=)

Sunday's FA cup action

Today I wanted to try something other then going to a pub, so I decided to visit a betting store, that shows the football match. I went to a Coral betting shop.

The game that I was watching today was Bolton Wanderers vs Tottenham Hotspurs. At first it was quite a odd experience for me to sit amongst all the gamblers just watching the game. But it was quite good actually you got kind of a stadium like experience with people screaming and complaining on most of the action going on. You really felt the excitement going on even though I was pretty much a neutral supporter. It might have helped that the game was really intense and very exciting. I actually enjoyed myself so much that I decided to stay for the next game which was Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa.

And that was another nail biter for a game, that I enjoyed even more, I actually got quite in the the betting and wasted a tenner myself (I really thought Crystal Palace would hold on to their lead). This was a very fun experience that I enjoyed quite much, that's why I give it FOUR(!) out of five M's. (Did really not see that coming this morning)

Saturdays FA cup action

On Saturday I decided to visit a pub to very close my own home. I went to watch the FA-cup match between Manchester City vs Stoke City.

I was at the Liquor Inn in Devons road. The place was pretty small, and at the day of the visit very empty. They only had two TV-screens on opposite sides of the pub, and they were actually kinda small. So I did not enjoy my stay at the pub. It may have depended on that the pub was empty and I felt kinda weird sitting by myself watching football with 3 drunks (well they smelled like it anyways) at the bar-counter. Or it may have depended on the match, which wasn't much to cheer for, even though I loved that Manchester City didn't win the match.

The pub only gets one out of five M's.

The Barracuda Bar

On Wednesday I started my journey of visiting different pubs and places, to try and find out which one is the best to watch football.

I started off at the Barracuda Bar in Liverpool street, to watch the Arsenal - Liverpool game. The bar is located just five minutes from the Liverpool street underground station, so it is quite easy to find.

The bar had several TV-screens and showed 3 different games. They had one big screen whom showed Arsenal - Liverpool and around the bar they had Plasma screens that showed either Aston villa - Man United or Everton - Chelsea. This was very good, so you don't have to worry if they will show your teams game, because they show 3 different games.

The atmosphere of the pub was great, probably because of the cheap drinks =). Fans from different teams sat together and had a great chat, going down memory lane and just enjoyed the football.

I Rate the Barracuda at 3 M's of Five Possible.