The Butcher’s Hook is one of the closest pubs to Stamford Bridge and one of the best places to watch the game.
The 2018/19 Premier League season starts on August 10th, and when the season kicks off, you will probably want to be at your favorite watering hole to celebrate. What makes a great place to watch the game? Well, one factor is location.
It’s exciting to be near to Stamford Bridge. Good beer is also a factor! Everyone likes a little tipple to calm the pregame nerves. The most important factor is the atmosphere. You want to feel emotionally involved with the game and moved by the action. Here are a handful of the best places to watch a Chelsea game in London.
Stamford Bridge
It’s pretty obvious, but the best place in London to watch a Chelsea game is undoubtedly Stamford Bridge. There’s no atmosphere quite like it! If you can get a ticket to watch your team in action, then do it. It will be well worth it.
Currently, Stamford Bridge has a capacity of 41,631, and so tickets can be hard to come by. There were plans for a $1 billion expansion to allow for a capacity of 63,000, but these plans are scrapped for now. Competition for tickets is high. If you want to give it a go, sign up to be a member on the Chelsea website and then go directly to their ticket exchange to make your purchase. You can then pick your tickets up on gameday.
It might not be possible to get tickets for the biggest Cup games and Premier League clashes, but seats for events like the Carabao Cup and clashes with the bottom of the table teams may be easier. Pick up your ticket early and then head to one of the nearby pubs for a pregame drink.
Nearby Watering Holes
Frankie’s Sports Bar & Diner is located on the Stamford Bridge, making this the closest location you can possibly get to the live action without being in the stadium. It’s also the number one place to watch the game with other Chelsea fans who also don’t have a ticket. Frankie’s has 16 large screens showing every Chelsea home game, and casual (yet slightly overpriced) food like burgers and pizza. You can get the full match-day atmosphere at Frankie’s but be warned: it will get rammed here pre and postgame.
If you ‘relooking for more of the classic pub atmosphere, the Butcher’s Hook is the nearest to the ground and is steeped in history. The pub, then called the Rising Sun is where Chelsea F.C. was founded back in 1905. A lot has changed since then, but the pub is still popular with local fans looking to watch the game.
The Chelsea Pensioner is also a stone’s throw away from the Stamford Bridge stadium and is arguably the best pregame atmosphere for fans. Previously called the Black Bull, this pub is going to be chock-a-block on matchday, but if you’re in with the crowd, it’s quite a laugh.
A Little Further Afield
Go a little further away from the stadium, and you can’t find a few excellent locations to watch Chelsea. The first is the Grosvenor Casino, about a mile to the northeast of the stadium on Gloucester Road. Grosvenor Casino has a dedicated live sports bar and lounge with several large screens to watch the game. Afterward, you can enjoy games like poker, roulette, blackjack and slots with £20,000 jackpots. Online casinos like Full Tilt Casino often offer the best value slots, with returns of around 96 percent and higher, but you cannot get live football atmospheres sat at home. A live casino offers an excellent football and gaming venue.
Back to the more traditional pub venues, check out The Atlas on Seagrave Road in Fulham, about a 15-minute walk from Stamford Bridge. This place has Italian-inspired food and Sunday roasts and is a hot spot for Chelsea fans. The Atlas hosts Chelsea Supporters’ Trust meetings and other events.
Although Chelsea has been experiencing problems with delays to the stadium and managerial issues this summer, hopefully, they will have sorted themselves out in time to make an impact in the coming season. I’ll be down at the pub watching the action, will you?