ABSTRACT
There has long been a link between the English public house (pub) and football. The pub has been a place in which to read about football, to talk about football, and to meet with friends before going to a live match. The pub provides a place where the holy trinity of alcohol, football and male-bonding come together. Pubs are the venues for the most vociferous of debates about the chances of the local or the national team in their forthcoming league, cup or international game, places in which to dispute the opinions or speculations of journalists about the team’s latest signing or the identity of the next England Manager. In recent years, however, there has been a change in the role played by the pub. Its centrality in football culture certainly hasn’t changed, but in the last decade or so it has increasingly become clear that the pub itself is now a significant and regular venue in which to watch live football. The number of pubs displaying boards and posters advertising the matches they will be showing is an indication that pub management companies and major brewers recognize the importance of this trend, but the football authorities also appear keen to promote the pub as a venue in which to watch matches. In September 2003, pub management companies, brewers and the football authorities jointly promoted ‘National Pub Football Week’. This initiative has continued with further Pub Football Weeks being held in May 2004 and September 2005.
