Best London pubs for Arsenal Champions League matches
Midweek European nights are different from Saturday afternoons. Everyone in the pub has made a deliberate choice to come out on a Tuesday for this. The crowd is smaller but more intense. The anthem plays and the whole room goes quiet for about three seconds. The Emirates-area pubs — Twelve Pins, Drayton Park, Tollington Arms — are packed for Champions League fixtures. If it's a home CL match, the Drayton Park has the added dimension of hearing the actual stadium crowd. When a goal goes in, you hear the pub erupt and the Emirates roar half a second later. There's nothing like it.
What makes a good Champions League pub?
Different from a Saturday. You want: • Open past 10pm — some pubs on a Tuesday close early, especially if the match goes to extra time • Sound on from kick-off — committed to showing it, not "we'll put it on if you ask" • A crowd — an empty pub with a screen is just a big living room with worse furniture • TNT Sports — as of 2025/26, TNT Sports has UK Champions League rights. Make sure your pub has it
Watching Arsenal Champions League in New York
A Tuesday 8pm London kickoff is 3pm Eastern. You might still be at work. Several NYC Arsenal bars open specifically for midweek CL matches — a 3pm weekday kickoff with 50 Gooners in a Manhattan bar while everyone else is in meetings is one of the great perks of being an Arsenal fan in New York. Midtown pubs fill with weekday crowds — expect suits and shared tables. Financial District empties out early, so those spots tend to be quieter.
Everywhere else
Check your local Arsenal pub. If they show weekend matches, they'll almost certainly show Champions League — it's often the biggest match of the week. The question is whether they'll have a crowd on a Tuesday. Message the pub or the local supporters' club before you head out.
Away match timing
Most CL matches are 8pm or 5:45pm UK time: • 5:45pm UK = 12:45pm Eastern, 9:45am Pacific. US fans: sneak-out-of-work territory. • 8pm UK = 3pm Eastern, 12pm Pacific. West Coast fans: long lunch. • 8pm UK = 7am AEDT (Wednesday morning in Australia). Melbourne/Sydney: alarm clock territory. Plan accordingly. If your pub doesn't open that early, start lobbying the landlord.
The stakes are higher in a pub
Champions League knockout rounds in a pub are something else. The tension, the noise, the collective holding of breath during a penalty shoot-out — you can't replicate that at home.