Where to Watch Arsenal in London
Short version: if Arsenal are away and you want the loudest room in N5, it is The Tollington. If they are at home and you have not got a ticket, half of these pubs go home-fans-only and the rest are rammed two hours before kickoff, so read the warnings below before you set off.
This is the home end. There are more Gooners per square mile around Blackstock Road and Holloway Road than anywhere on earth, and the pubs here are not "venues that show the football." They are the football. Scarves on the walls, their own-brand lager on tap, Henry painted on the ceiling. The hard part is not finding somewhere to watch. It is getting in.
The one rule that catches everyone out: home days vs away days
- Home match days. The N5/N7 pubs fill from two hours before kickoff and several are home-fans-only with proof of ticket on the door (The Gunners Pub and The Woodbine, specifically). The ground holds 60,000 and the pubs hold a fraction of that. If you are not going to the game, watch from a pub a bit further out — Finsbury Park, the Cally, or the Highbury end — and you will have a far better day.
- Away match days. Everywhere shows it, no ticket nonsense, and you can actually get a seat. This is when the heartland pubs are at their best for a neutral visitor.
- Get there early regardless. For a 3pm Saturday, the famous rooms are full by 12:30. "Early" here means lunchtime, not five-to-three.
Right by the ground (you can hear the crowd)
The Tollington
115 Hornsey Road, N7. The Tolly. The most famous Arsenal matchday pub, full stop. Five minutes from the Emirates. They clear the furniture out to fit more bodies in, and it is rammed from two hours before kickoff. No bookings, no reservations. Get there early or you are standing by the bogs. The noise when we score is worth the queue on its own.
The Drayton Park Tavern
Drayton Park, N5. The closest pub to the Emirates, practically opposite the turnstiles. You can see the stadium from the window. That proximity is the whole pitch. Heaving before and after, not the fanciest on the strip, but nothing beats it for being right there.
Victoria Tavern N7
207 Holloway Road, N7. Close enough to hear the ground. Shoulder-to-shoulder with half of North London on matchdays, the pizza is decent and the sound is on. No seat unless you are an hour early. Good for a quick pint before you head through the turnstiles.
The Blackstock Road heartland (N5/N4)
The Gunners Pub
204 Blackstock Road, N5. Bright red outside, Henry on the wall, legends painted across the ceiling. Basically a museum that serves pints, and they brew their own Gunners Lager. Gets absolutely heaving — arrive by 12:30 for a 3pm or you are queuing down the block. Look out for Ted the pub dog. Home fans only on match days; bring proof of ticket or you are not getting in.
The Woodbine
60 Blackstock Road, N4. Irish pub, established 1919, over a century in Arsenal country. Candlelit, wood-panelled, moody. The Thai food is genuinely excellent and they might pour the best Guinness in London (fight us). Wine Wednesdays, a Tuesday quiz where the losers win a bag of crisps. Home fans only on match days.
Brook Gate
175 Blackstock Road, N4. This was The Arsenal Tavern until 2023. New management, refurb, cleaned-up reputation. Still Blackstock Road, still Arsenal territory, still sound on. The history of the address runs deeper than the new name.
Bank of Friendship
226 Blackstock Road, N5. Wood-panelled with a heated beer garden out back. Sound on every match, a bit further from the Emirates than the rest of the strip, which means it is quieter and you can actually get a seat. The name alone is worth the visit.
The Faltering Fullback
19 Perth Road, N4. Not the closest (25-minute walk) but worth every step for that beer garden — three levels of ivy-covered treehouse, winding staircases, like drinking in an Ewok village. Irish family-run, Thai kitchen, Fuller’s London Pride on tap. No bookings. On a sunny match day you will not move for hours.
The Holloway Road strip (N7)
The George
9 Eden Grove, N7. The House of Red, and they mean it. Founded 1886, same year as the club. Boarded up for years, reopened 2025 and already rammed on matchdays. Own Gunners Lager on tap, Yard Sale Pizza midweek, one minute from Holloway Road station. Shows men's and women's. Reportedly the best Guinness in N7. Doors at 11am on match days; book ahead for the big ones or you are watching from the pavement.
The Horatia
98-102 Holloway Road, N7. Spacious, formerly The Lord Nelson, now a proper all-rounder. Craft beer, rotating food pop-ups, multiple rooms and big screens so you will find a spot if you are early. Ten minutes from the Emirates — catches the pre-match crowd and the post-match debrief.
The Hercules
504 Holloway Road, N7. Traditional Holloway Road local with a strong Arsenal following and live music nights. Close enough for the buzz, far enough to dodge the worst crush. The kind of place the regulars nod at you the second time you are in.
The Lamb
54 Holloway Road, N7. Renovated, craft beer, live Irish and bluegrass from up-and-coming acts. Match audio on for every game. A solid Holloway Road option when the bigger rooms are full.
Highbury & Islington / Upper Street
The Famous Cock Tavern
259 Upper Street, N1. Seven steps from Highbury & Islington tube — literally the first pub you see coming up the stairs. The natural starting point off the Overground or Victoria Line. Big screens, a crowd that fills it out, good beer if you care about that.
The Alwyne Castle
83 St Pauls Road, N1. More upscale than the Blackstock Road lot. A proper Islington gastropub near Highbury & Islington, with a suntrap beer garden. If you want to eat well and watch the match, this is the pick.
The Highbury Barn Tavern
26 Highbury Park, N5. Just had a £500k refurb, reopened 2025, 200 capacity across three rooms. At the Highbury end rather than Holloway Road — a different patch of Arsenal territory. Natural stop if you are near the old Highbury stadium (now flats).
The Caledonian Road & the anthem pubs
If you know "North London Forever" — the Louis Dunford song that plays before every home game — you know these two.
The Thornhill Arms
148 Caledonian Road, N1. "From The Thornhill to The Hemmy." Victorian corner pub on the Cally, original Charrington’s tiles outside, Arsenal on every wall in. Quieter than the Blackstock Road circus — you can get a pint without losing a rib. Sound on, decent grub, ten minutes from King’s Cross if you are off the train.
Hemingford Arms
158 Hemingford Road, N1. The Hemmy, the other half of the lyric. Built 1855, the oldest pub in Barnsbury, and the inside is gloriously unhinged: carved mahogany bar with lion heads, etched glass, and a ceiling hung with bicycles, instruments and old lamps. Massive projector, sound on, Thai kitchen doing proper Pad Thai at halftime. Twenty minutes from the Emirates so it dodges the worst of the crush. Genuine soul.
Doyle's Tavern
379 Caledonian Road, N7. Family-run since 1997, directly across from Pentonville Prison. A proper local with a signed 1971 double-winning shirt on the wall, a horseshoe bar, two dartboards and a pool table. Off the usual matchday route but Arsenal to the core.
Finsbury Park end (good when everywhere else is full)
The Twelve Pins
263 Seven Sisters Road, N4. Big Irish pub right by Finsbury Park station, the first one off the tube. Six screens mounted high so you get sightlines even when it is sardines. Known for putting on 3pm Saturday kickoffs when others will not. Might charge a couple of quid at the door, but you get drink vouchers back. The chicken balti pie in an Arsenal-branded box is the winter move.
Worlds End
21-23 Stroud Green Road, N4. Two minutes from Finsbury Park and bigger than most Arsenal pubs, so you have actually got a chance of getting in. Claims the biggest screen in North London. No match ticket required — the reliable backup when everywhere else is rammed. Red Dog Saloon does Texas BBQ inside; the peanut butter burger gets specifically recommended.
The Plimsoll
52 St Thomas Road, N4. Was The Auld Triangle, a proper pre-match Irish boozer; now a UK Top 50 gastropub, but the Arsenal crowd never left. The Dexter cheeseburger is rated one of the best in London. Kitchen scales back to burgers-only on men's home days but stays open. Midway between Emirates and Finsbury Park. The eat-properly-first option.
The supporters' club
AFSC Clubhouse
Highbury. Arsenal FC Supporters' Club, running continuously since 1949 — the oldest in the world. If you are a member, this is home; if not, it is worth joining for the matchday experience alone. Not a pub. A piece of the club itself.
Out of N7 (west and Camden)
Oxford Arms
265 Camden High Street, NW1. Near Camden Market. If you are in NW1 and cannot make N7, it is an option. We are thin on details — watched Arsenal here? Tell us what to expect.
Sindercombe Social
2 Goldhawk Road, W12. West London, Shepherd’s Bush. A long way from N7 but handy if you are on that side of town. Screens and sound on. Light on intel — submit an update if you know it.
Kickoff times
You are on home time, so no maths. The only thing that changes your day is home vs away (see the top). Rough slots: 12:30 Saturday early kickoff, 3pm Saturday (the busy one), 5:30 Saturday, 2pm and 4:30 Sunday, 8pm midweek for Champions League. For any of them, treat "an hour before" as the minimum head start for the famous pubs.
The honest take
Visiting and want the full experience on an away day? Tollington for the noise, or the Gunners Pub / Woodbine for the museum-on-the-walls thing. Visiting on a home day without a ticket? Go to Worlds End, The Twelve Pins, or the Cally pubs (Thornhill, Hemmy) — you will get in, get a seat, and still get the North London Forever goosebumps. Want to eat properly first? The Plimsoll or The Alwyne Castle.
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.