It’s the FA Cup final again this weekend and, in case you somehow didn’t get the memo, it’s also another Manchester derby, so the hordes of Mancs who can’t make it to Wembley are obviously trying to figure out the best places to watch it.
Not only a back-to-back meeting between the two teams but just the second time in history that the iconic rivalry has been played out in the final, it’s safe to say it’s going to be a momentous occasion.
While tens of thousands of Mancs are set to descend upon the capital this Saturday, 25 May, we can’t all fit in there, so fans of both sides will be out in full force to watch the big fixture.
So, with that in mind, we thought we’d put together a dozen of the best places in town where you can watch the 2024 FA Cup final right here in Manchester. Let’s start with a few places for each fan base:
Man United pubs in the city centre
1. The Old Nag’s Head
David Dixon (via Geograph)MUSC Nottingham (via Twitter)The best place for any United fan to watch the game, let alone an FA Cup final.
If you’re a Red, there isn’t any other place to start than The Old Nag’s Head, without a doubt the most popular pub for Man United fans in the city. Spread across multiple floors, with plenty of screens, karaoke and a rooftop terrace to boot, it’s arguably the best place to be when you’re not at the game.
Next up is the Sir Ralph Abercromby, literally located just a street over from the Nag and equally packed with United fans on matchdays. With Class of ’92 members often spotted here, a massive beer garden with outdoor screens and even a fast food truck around the back, this place has everything you need to enjoy the game.
And thirdly we have Mulligans of Deansgate: a Manchester institution and home of the best pint of Guinness you’ll find in 0161. This Irish bar is heaving every weekend regardless, but it’s also a second home for lifelong Reds and has live music on every night. You’re sure to be chanting your head off in here if United win.
Now, as for Manchester City pubs, there isn’t any more famous than Mary D’s. The Beamish Bar, to give it its full title, is wall-to-wall with Blues before and after every matchday. Literally on the doorstep of the Etihad Stadium, it has a floor-to-ceiling painting of the old Maine Road ground and boasts affordable pints, live music and ‘the fastest service’ around. A Man City mecca, if you will.
2. The Waldorf
Right near the train station too. (The Waldorf via Instagram)
As for closer to the city centre, you don’t get much more convenient than The Waldorf. Though it often has other fans come through its doors, you can make no mistake about which fan base dominates this pub come a City matchday. Located little just down the steps from Piccadilly Station, it’s always full of Blues before, during and after games — it’s got a great selection of beer and food too.
As for our third and final pick for you Blues, The Townley is another one that is just a stone’s throw away from the Etihad — we’re talking only a couple of minutes. With a beer garden out front and in the back, not to mention still family-friendly enough to take the kids, it’s always a good vibe over here.
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Sports bars in Manchester
Now, we obviously need a list of neutral places for people to go along to watch the game and while there are a hundred and one places that are perfect to watch the footy with a pint, but we just thought we’d pick out a few of our recent favourites to get you started.
These are in no particular order, either, we love them all too much to play favourites, so you’ll just have to make up your own minds on this one.
First on the list is BOX bar on Deansgate, which has quickly become not only one of the best places to watch sports in Manchester but one of the busiest bars in town full stop. Spread across two floors with screens on virtually every wall (including a massive jumbotron) not to mention shuffleboard, live music and massive pitchers of beer and cocktails, you can see why people pack this place out every weekend.
Next up is Tib Street Tavern which has remained a go-to for anyone wanting to watch sport in town for years and for good reason. With massive wall-sized screens, quality food, big booths for you to book with you and your mates, as well as great deals on booze, you have to be quick to get in here.
Another one of our personal faves is Calcio! over in the Northern Quarter. A relative newcomer to the Manchester sports bar scene, the Italian football-themed watering hole is a great place not only to watch this year’s Manchester derby FA Cup final but for whenever you fancy great food and retro videogames.
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4. The Brotherhood
Last but not least, we have The Brotherhood Of Pursuits And Pastimes, to give it its full name. This Manc institution remains one of the best places to watch sport in town. Also boasting two floors with dozens of screens, pool tables, darts, table tennis and more, including a great food menu, it’s a regular haunt for post-work pints and matchday fans. Just look at how buzzing it was back in December — can’t go wrong.
Next up, it’s a mainstay on the ever-growing list of Manc sports bars for good reason: it’s a solid pub with great grub, lots on tap and, most importantly, lots of tellies. Big sharing platters, a pool table and a nice central location that’s easy for even out-of-towners to find, you won’t go far wrong with Directors Box
Last but not least, we’ve picked Gasworks over on First Street, in part because lots of people don’t realise they show live sport – but having spent many a final, Euros and World Cup match in here, we can confirm they drum up a great atmosphere.
Nice and neutral, not to mention with darts and shuffleboard to keep you busy, you’ll find plenty of footy fans and those just coming along for the day out gathering around the big projector in here come Saturday, 25 May.
A severely underrated spot when it comes to live sport, in our opinion. (Gasworks via IG)
This is, of course, by no means an exhaustive list but there are plenty more pubs and bars that will welcome any football fan ahead of the big fixture.
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Regardless of who comes out on top, it’s going to be a massive day for the city and United and City fans everywhere, just make sure you look after each other and enjoy yourselves.
So, who do we reckon is winning it then? Is ten Hag going to make it two domestic cups in his first two seasons or are Pep’s Premier League champions going defend another third of the treble and manage a domestic double?
Featured Image — David Dixon/Calcio/Mary D’s Beamish Bar
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The Premier League and EFL should follow La Liga’s lead and bring Retro Matchdays to the UK
Danny Jones
Following the news that La Liga is set to debut a new ‘Retro Matchday’ round, we can’t help but ask the question: why didn’t the Premier League and EFL think of this first?
Well, technically, neither did the Spaniards, but you take our point.
Anyone who follows the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, or even the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) equivalent here in the UK and mainland Europe, will know that the concept is nothing new – but by and large, it seems to be for the beautiful game.
In case you missed it, in an effort to further capitalise on the increasing trend of vintage and classic football kit fashion/the wider nostalgia culture that only seems to be growing every year, Spain’s top two tiers will soon host their inaugural Retro Matchday gameweek next month, and we want a piece of it.
Set to be hosted from Friday, 10 April, over the usual weekend of football in their premier and second division, and running until the final lot of fixtures on Monday, 13 April (no, thankfully not an April Fool’s), supporters will get to see players step out onto the pitch in some of the country’s most iconic kits.
Depending on who you ask, some would argue that Spain has some of the nicest footy shirts all time, whether that be the national side or clubs themselves.
To be honest, we definitely have a soft spot for a proper European throwback – we’re thinking Borussia Dortmund’s 1995/96 home kit, the Napoli kits of the 80s, that amazing Toyota-sponsored Fila Fiorentina kit at the turn of the millennium – and even some of the best 2000s ones now look so old-school.
In fact, we actually had a taster of these kinds of special matches in the past, including here in 0161 for the likes of the Manchester Derby.
Reminds me of the Manchester derby in 2008 where they played in retro kits due to it coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Munich disaster. Looked absolutely brilliant. pic.twitter.com/TLRjKHThbG
When you also take into account that, besides collectors already creating a whole new craze in filling their cupboards with classic kits, the likes of Nike, Adidas and more now regularly turning to old designs like the ‘Futura’, Total 90′ and various ‘adi Originals’ revivals of late, it’s more the rage than ever.
Birmingham’s recent ‘penguin’ remake, Port Vale’s traditional 150th anniversary one, based on their 1953-54 season jersey, not to mention countless other lifestyle fashion collections inspired by historic releases, you can’t move for the stuff – so why not get them wearing it on the grass?
As mentioned, the likes of local ice hockey outfit Manchester Storm have been taking a leaf out of the NHL’s book for ages now, with the annual ‘Retro Nights’ proving to be some of the most popular dates on the calendar, even selling off original shirts in the stadium itself before, during and after the match.
We genuinely can’t think of a single football lover following a team at any level in the English football pyramid that wouldn’t LOVE this. In fact, plenty of them already go to the ground wearing their dad’s second-hand away strip, which has turned out to be a modern cult favourite among the next generation.
These are the kinds of ideas we can see fans actually getting behind; you can find out more HERE. Would you like to see a retro Premier League and/or EFL match day featuring your favourite kits from down the years?
Liam Broady is on the comeback – here’s why you need to watch out for him at Wimbledon
The Manc
Local tennis player Liam Broady is quietly rising back up the ranks on the ITF Tour, and here’s why we think you should watch out for him come Wimbledon 2026 this summer.
He is physical proof that the ATP Tour ranking means so much to a player’s career.
The Stockport-born tennis player has suffered many injury setbacks since turning pro in 2014. With a host of ankle and back injuries plaguing his playing career, he has had to turn to the ITF (International Tennis Federation) Tour to climb the rankings once again.
He is currently placed at 283* on the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Tour after reaching two semi-finals in the space of a month.
With wins on two of Portugal’s hard courts in Faro and Santo António, the 32-year-old has climbed from rank 303 at the start of the year to under the threshold in less than three months.
His hard work on outdoor courts is paying off as his seeding is slowly improving, and his opponents are becoming less of a challenge.
For the unititated, the ATP ranking is decided by a points system that determines your playing level, and therefore who you can possibly draw, with lower seeds getting tougher games as they need more points, and vice versa.
These point tallies factor into every win, loss, serve, and shot as it propels you up or down the table.
With an injury over Christmas, the Stopfordian Team GB player came back stronger for the start of the annual tournament calendar and now looks to be in fighting form on the ITF Tour.
He’s definitely had to tackle some obstacles over the years, both on and off the court…
Competing solely on outdoor hard courts to gain his fitness levels back is necessary, but the grass courts – his speciality – will come around with time and consistent form, with Wimbledon being his home tournament and his highlight of the competitive calendar.
His career best ranking was 93, after becoming the first British wildcard entry to beat an ATP top five player in 2023 when defeating Casper Rudd on Wimbledon’s centre court.
His win against the Norwegian in round two sent him into the top 100 rankings for the first time, and into the shining spotlight alongside British tennis stars.
The adverse effects of time away from the tour are clear to see with Broady’s peaks and dips in the table below; this means taking a hit to player motivation, game-to-game momentum and teamworking within doubles pairs.
Liam Broady’s career rankings progression chart. (Credit: ATP Tour)
It is a likely situation for players to neglect their doubles career without the added stress of injury, so if they are to arise, it does not just impact individual physicality levels but also communication between doubles pairs.
A fellow British player with similar injury problems is Emma Raducanu, who rose to fame with a shocking US Open grand slam win as a qualifier. Since her win, she has had multiple surgeries, which saw her plummet down WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) standings due to time spent off court.
The issues that come with injury upsets can make a career really difficult to reclaim, even at a young age; tour rankings can be brutal on game time and match opponents, such as Broady’s Wimbledon draw against Holland’s Van De Zandschulp and Raducanu’s recent draw against American no.3 Anisimova.
We hope to see Team GB’s athletes fit and ready to fight on tour, and we have a strong feeling we’ll see native talent Broady back in the spotlight where he belongs.
Danny Jones -
23rd May 2024 
