Secret London blog: best sports bars to watch the Olympics

If Olympics or Euro 2012 tickets have eluded you, you can still get a front row seat in one of London’s many sports bars.

Here is your guide the capital’s best sports bars:

The Sports Café, Haymarket:
This is the place to go for American sports. Its 82 widescreen TVs mean you won’t ever miss a game, whether its NFL, NHL, NBS, baseball or the premiere league. The bar will also be showing all the Euro 2012 matches and coverage of the Olympics. Book a table and enjoy some tasty chicken wings while you watch! 

The Famous Three Kings, West Kensington:
This pub is famous for its sports, and is also a firm favourite of the Welsh especially during the Six Nations and Welsh rugby International; the Welsh chant of “oggie, oggie, oggie!” can be heard from down the street. The pub is huge and has many screens showing different matches at the same time, and even has mini screens on the beer taps!

The Sport Bar and Grill:
This is a chain bar located in Farringdon, Victoria, Marylebone and Waterloo. The bar is popular for football and rugby and will be showing all Euro matches along with coverage of the Olympics. You can reserve a table and enjoy the Sony HD LED screens.

Bar and Café Kick, Shoreditch and Exmouth market:
In Bar Kick you can not only watch the football, but play it too. They have table football in both their Shoreditch and Exmouth market locations. However, the table football can get competitive, so bring your game face with you. If you’d rather watch football than play it with little plastic men, there are a number of HD widescreen TVs for you to watch it on. They will also be showing coverage for the Euro and the Olympics.

Jet Lag, Fitzrovia:
This is more of an up-market sports bar in the heart of Fitzrovia, and in the spirit of the Olympics it has many international flags flying outside it. The bar shows AFL, football, basketball, Formula 1, and for the Olympics and the euro it will host a number of special events. Look out of deals on their website.

The Maple Leaf, Covent Garden:
The Maple leaf on Maiden lane is a Canadian bar, and like most Canadians the place is mad about ice hockey. Due to the time difference between here and North America, most NHL games are recorded. The pub has several widescreen TVs and they show premier league as well as NFL.

Le Bouchon Bordelais, Clapham Junction:
This French bar specialises in French cuisine and sports. During the Six Nations, the local French population gather here to cheer on their country. Sometimes you can book a three course meal before a major sporting event – now that is what I call civilised! They show all major premier league matches in 3D and will be showing coverage of the Euro and the Olympics.

The Baring, Hackney:
This pub on the Hackney-Islington boarder not only screens major sporting events but they also are involved in local sports – they have their own cricket team and they sponsor a local football team, the Hoxton Foxes. On Saturdays and Sundays, The Baring show live football matches and you can have breakfast up until 2pm – the perfect hangover cure.

By Cat Hughes

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