Arsenal Pubs on Blackstock Road
Four Arsenal pubs on one road. Not four pubs that happen to show the football — four pubs where the walls, the regulars and the noise are all Arsenal. Blackstock Road runs north from Finsbury Park towards Highbury, and on a home match day the whole street is basically an outdoor pre-match.
This is the heartland. If you have got one afternoon in North London and you want the real thing rather than a big screen in a chain bar, come here.
The strip, in order
- The Woodbine, 60 Blackstock Road. Pouring since 1919. Candlelit, wood-panelled, fairy lights, and over a century of Arsenal. Not a big-screen barn — a proper old room.
- Brook Gate, 175. Used to be The Arsenal Tavern, renamed in 2023 after new management and a refurb. Had a reputation once; the new lot have cleaned it up.
- The Gunners Pub, 204. Bright red outside, Thierry Henry on the wall, Arsenal legends painted across the ceiling. The museum one.
- Bank of Friendship, 226. Wood panelling and a heated beer garden out the back. Sound on for every match, and the one where you have got the best chance of hearing yourself think.
Home days are different
On a home match day The Gunners Pub and The Woodbine usually go home fans only, and they may ask to see a ticket. That is not them being difficult — it is how a small room stays a small Arsenal room when 60,000 people are walking past the door.
No ticket? Walk five minutes back towards Finsbury Park and you will get in somewhere with a seat. Away days, none of this applies — the whole road is open and the whole road is watching.
Getting there and getting in
Finsbury Park (Piccadilly, Victoria and National Rail) is the arrival station — come out and walk north. Arsenal station on the Piccadilly line is closer to the ground but further from the road. From the Gunners Pub end it is roughly ten minutes on foot to the Emirates.
Timing: for a 3pm Saturday these rooms are full by half twelve. For a North London derby, treat noon as late.
Sourced from fans via GoonerPubs. Home-fans-only policies and opening times change — check before a big fixture. Spot something out of date? Add or update a pub on GoonerPubs.