Olé

And what's wrong with brand snobbery? A brand is earned not just created. People have to identify the brand with the product. O'Neils is not a sports brand. Sports brands have exotic and catchy names like NIKE and PUMA and HUMMEL and BUTKA and even NIBOR. O'Neils was a pub on the triangle you went for a late drink and possibly an argument. It became a pub on Baldwin Street with sticky carpets and terrible service. This is like having kit made under a brand like "Hobgoblin" or "O'Malleys". It sounds crap, which means the shirt itself has to work extra hard to make it look good, and they don't do that.

In an effort to restore their reputation they loaded the website with quantity 2 of each size in order to declare this is the fastest shirt to sell out in history. Wait for the PR.

There is no reasonable basis for the Cardiff game to be changed now to 12.30. Sky have announced their latest selections for 20th-30th October 2023 in line with the EFL mandated 5 week notice period for changes. As they haven't selected Cardiff City vs Bristol City, the default position has not changed from the draft fixture list published on 22nd June 2023. EFL rule 27.1 indicates "All League Matches shall be arranged as soon as practicable." - 3 months to seek police advice is not "as soon as practicable."

To be fair the half a mil was Conygar Investments taking an option on the site, Rovers were just a possible tenant, quite possible Conygar (market value of £60m) has found better ways to make money off the land that doesn't involve a club that can't sell out a 10k ramshackle ground in Filton. In other news here's Conygar share price this year - Rovers did all their PR for piggybacking the Conygar deal in April.

Boom https://x.com/tristancorkpost/status/1701238355210453117?s=46&t=s1TNR_RuCaRlxtqEvLbf_w

Agree and as I'd said the "he's good at interviews" is the other one (like that's not a requirement of literally every interview). Like his feast and famine tenure, LJ will always be an incredibly polarising figure. There is always complete lack of balance. I always felt he gave us some of the best away days I've ever seen in one tenure but it was always only half the story with LJ. Home vs Away First Half of season vs Second Half Winning Streaks vs Losing Streaks If he had presided over the same outcome but all mixed up across those trends I've no doubt he'd be more highly regarded. He also gets too easily tarred by the Mark Ashton brush. LJ didn't play Engvall, Eisa, Adelakun and eventually Diony. He knew.

Exactly. If every job interview had the sole criteria of being in highly successful jobs, stating the bleeding obvious but 90% of jobs wouldn't be filled. Lee Johnson is not gaming football, in most lines of work you are picking from the available shortlist not asking how many trophies they've won.

This always amuses me more than it should because we love to cast football as some kind of basket case. For those of you who have interviewed and hired people, when was the last time you cross referenced prior employers and checked on their financials, awards, or any other measure of performance during the tenure of someone you were interviewing? People don't, they take prior employers as simply qualifying relevant experience, and form their view based on actual interview. Did I like their answers, did I come away from it feeling like they will add something new to what we do etc? I hate the idea LJ is seen to be gaming the system. Yes he is full of it, but this is how interviews work in literally every single line of business. Don't hate the player hate the game.

On a small point of order, it actually does. If a business is going to conduct a large transaction (in this case equivalent to the turnover of the entire business) they will often submit it for board approval as good governance since the board will be made up of people whose job it is to represent owners/investors interests. This wasn't "every deal", it was the largest deal in the club's history. The only bit that is a little less conventional is we don't really have a board in the true sense, SL is the one and only person who needs contacting.

A collective siege mentality is something that both Alex Ferguson and José Mourinho used to great effect to galvanise their teams and after a quiet transfer deadline week where their own supporters wrote them off, followed by 45 minutes where malicious and very deliberate refereeing from Oliver Langford did everything to give struggling hosts Swansea the advantage, City showed their resilience to dig deep and let their quality count, dominating for 90 minutes and scoring the goals that counted in front of their massed away fans. With the UK heading into a late summer heatwave, Swansea Bay was bathed in sun - azure blue skies shimmering around the white expanse of the Swansea City stadium heading up the valley from the centre of the Welsh town with a capacity travelling support. All the talk had been of City’s failure to strengthen after selling superstar Andy Scott, but that talk quickly turned to referee Langford. Bad officials are normally chaotic, but the Blackpool based official was much more measured in very obviously treating City differently to their hosts. A calculated lack of consistency between whistling every time the Swans felt minimal contact and tumbled cheaply, while waving away fouls every time City players were chopped down on the break, had already drawn cries of “cheat” from the away end. Three first half goals disallowed, a clear last-man red card call bottled, and even a simple back pass overlooked, had only added to the sense that even the officials were against City, but Nigel Pearson’s side kept their composure for Mark Sykes to setup a comfortable second half win. The early kick off had not deterred the travelling support who started the match with the sweltering midday sun angling down into their packed end. Struggling Swansea opened with purpose and referee Langford - a Wolves fan with previous history of giving all his decisions against City - indulged a series of minor shoulder to shoulder brushes for soft free kicks, only to ignore an identical infringement as Joe Williams was barged off the ball in midfield and Charlie Patino threaded Liam Cullen clear to finish easily under keeper Max O’Leary. In truth Pearson’s men had started a little shakily - Cam Pring giving it away around his own box just before the opener and Kal Naismith having to cut out the threat brilliantly. But the feature of the half was Langford, who continued to indulge a limited Swansea side, including awarding them yet another curious midfield free kick when their own player appeared to have swatted the ball away with their own arm. By this point all action midfielder Jason Knight had headed just wide - as he had at Hull - from a Taylor Gardner-Hickman corner. But before even the quarter hour mark the pattern of the game was set - and it was literally all City. The relentless Nahki Wells stole the ball off a defender before laying off for Knight whose long range dipping shot flashed just over the top corner. Mounting pressure from a throw in saw Sykes cut inside and drill a low shot that keeper Carl Rushworth had to hold. Sam Bell seized on a back pass and forced a corner, while a collision outside the City box gave Wells room to break Bell clear down left but the Bermudan couldn’t turn in the return. Knight and Williams both had shots blocked from another Bell break, but Langford was now comically one-eyed, City twice clearly fouled on halfway with nothing given, players showing their frustrations on sun-bathed turf where minutes earlier Swansea had been awarded a series of soft free kicks. Wells curled over wildly from range, before the visitors had their first goal disallowed, Naismith combatively winning the ball at the second attempt and driving the ball into the box to where Bell fired home but was adjudged to be offside. Langford’s best attempts to thwart City’s dominance included more wildly inconsistent fouls awarded for the stuttering hosts despite having ignored similar when committed against City, a clear passback not given - even the keeper initially feigned to kick it - and then most conspicuously last man Kyle Naughton getting away with a yellow card after sending Wells tumbling to the ground as the striker roared clear on goal. For good measure City twice more in quick succession had goals ruled out including Knight for the softest of contact. So at half time in the baking hot South Wales stadium all the talk was of a massive injustice being administered by referee Langford, so it was refreshing that City - already bruised by all the talk of a lack of deadline reinforcements - simply showed the pre-existing class and composure in their side by returning to the field with the same relentless attacking threat they started away at Hull a week ago, but this time making it count - racing quickly from 1-0 down into a 2-1 lead, the first coming barely as fans had time to return to their seats. Williams did brilliantly to latch onto a loose ball in midfield before sweeping it out to Sykes in the right channel who raced into the box and executed a delightful drop of the shoulder and turn inside his marker before stroking the ball neatly into the far corner - away fans racing down to the front of the stand to celebrate with him. It was literally all City, Sykes clean through again after more good work by Williams but bundled over with Langford still disinterested, while Pring’s lung-busting run to the byline and last-gasp cross saw Wells’ finish deflected over. Sykes was again pushed over on the run in the box and again Langford invoked his “but it’s Bristol City” rule to wave away the type of contact he loved to indulge for the hosts - the Irishman throwing his arms in the air in palpable frustration at the now endless stream of injustice - but the goalscorer would make amends almost immediately, a sensational spin taking him away from four midfielders and into the space between the lines through the right channel, before squaring past Wells to Bell far post who finished bottom corner. Pandemonium. An injustice righted, a comprehensive performance rewarded, and one of our own completing the turn around, and all in front of the massed away fans, Bell standing arms aloft to lap up the adulation. A day after signing his new contract, Zak Vyner nearly put the icing on the cake as his looping header went just over from a Gardner-Hickman corner. Despite being hugely one sided City were almost caught ball watching from a corner as Harry Darling headed back at the far post and Ben Cabango nodded down past O’Leary and onto the post. Pearson decided to dig in, George Tanner on for debutant Gardner-Hickman, then energetic Harry Cornick on for Wells. This allowed City to maintain their control and pressure although by now with little end product. With 10 minutes left former City man Jamie Paterson - off the bench - spun but fired well wide, while at the other end it opened up for Cornick on the edge of the box whose feet got in a tangle but he knocked it wide for the onrushing Pring who lasered an absolute barnstormer towards the top corner which flashed narrowly over. O’Leary saved down low from a Darling far post header as the game headed into time added on, but in truth this was one of the poorest Swansea sides that City have faced in a long time and the visitors finished the game in total control, moving the ball as they wanted and winning free kicks from a chastened Langford as time ran out. Temperatures were now reaching 23 degrees as the final whistle went, but Pearson’s side - supposedly weaker after the transfer window - had easily overcome the heat, their opponents, and the match official. Max O’Leary 7 Gardner-Hickman 7 Cam Pring 7 Zak Vyner 7 Kal Naismith 8 Matty James 7 Joe Williams 9 Jason Knight 8 Mark Sykes 9 Sam Bell 8 Nahki Wells 7 George Tanner 6 Harry Cornick 7 Rob Dicke 6

I'm definitely in the latter view. I actually left wondering if Wells will have the legs for Saturday, he put a proper shift in without much supply - as poor as we were with the ball, we pressed high up more than we have all season and right to the very end and Wells rarely dropped off from his commitment to close down their defenders without the ball.

Until he is quicker thinking and more decisive with the ball, I think his role in a 3 will be to drag defenders and open up space for others - provided he can at least give up the ball before he runs out of room and gets bundled off it. It's noticeable that we have far more end product when he cuts inside and lays it back into the channel in space for someone to cross for him, rather than him actually manage to create anything. He's another player that is better away from home in transition when he can run at people out of position, he's got too little room and ability (for this level) at AG when defenders are set as opposed to back-tracking. He did not fare well in the comparison last night to Norwich's Polish winger (Płacheta?) who looked a handful, yet hasn't played in the league yet but was far more effective out wide - shows what we're up against. One other thing on Mehmeti, for someone with his supposed baller skills, I do worry he looks pretty average taking on players at close range - maybe that is just form and confidence. When I think about players even in League One with clever feet, they are pretty consistent at being able to dribble past an opponent. Mehmeti uses his feet to good effect to recover possession in tight positions, but 1 on 1 he's not quick or decisive. The only other thing to say is last night all four of our wide players were poor - Roberts probably most surprising for me. They all looked rusty. So Mehmeti doesn't deserve singling out. And the massive overreaction to the performance is a bit ridiculous too. Yes Mehmeti was a waste of time, but overall the team pressed as well as they have this season and put a real shift in, we were just consistently laboured out in wide areas.

Aston Villa fans are still absolutely obsessed with him. It’s one of the weirdest things in the world.

As late as inconveniently possible.

The clap of thunder suggested a downpour was coming around a cool but muggy MKM stadium. Friday night and a solid start to the season had created a buzz around Hull that has been rare on away trips here for years. On the walkway that bridges the town to the East side of the ground home fans chatted excitedly about what they would do and had convinced themselves City would roll over. A roar around the stadium from what looked a packed ground signalled intent from kick off. The match started to form - City with lots of possession but laboured in creativity, Hull far far better moving the ball with pace and to feet, drawing fouls around the box. It was a game where defenders needed to be on it to block chances, but like last Saturday Zak Vyner looked rusty and was beaten by Liam Delap on City's left, sweeping the ball quick into the middle where Ozan Tufan arrived in the six yard box to slam home from close in. Now the home fans were really rocking. City were always in it - but lacked the same quality of final ball, though Nahki Wells got an injury time equaliser at half time, turning in Jason Knight's deflected shot, only for it to be ruled out for a marginal offside which required an inordinate wait. The second half was end to end and City's methodical build up eventually resulted in Wells close range equaliser off Mark Sykes drilled ball in, more than deserved. Max O'Leary had to keep City in it, but they could have won it late on. The threat of a downpour subsided at kick off, the thunder had stopped echoing round Humberside and no lightning had arrived. In it's place City started slowly although had a chance to open the scoring from man of the match Knight's header at the far post from a Matty James free kick, but straight at the keeper. But Hull were more direct and in 20 minutes went ahead. Vyner got caught out of position, Delap skipped past him - and Tufan was one of several in space to finish. The hosts were comfortably on top and City had to work hard without the ball, without a forward threat until the midway point of the half when Sam Bell cut across to run at Hull before curling a long range shot into the far post where Wells combined to setup Sykes volley over. Now the home side were quickly throwing themselves in front of anything to protect their lead, Wells with a shot blocked and Joe Williams volleying over after Wells dangerous ball in was half bundled away. City's burst of pressure culminated in a wild spell where George Tanner and an all action Knight (twice) forced Hull to block a series of attempts from around the box - although they should have been level on the stroke of halftime as Knight again roared into the box but this time the block spun his shot right to an unmarked Wells who with a Hull defender level tapped home, turning to look to the line and with no flag, wheeling away to celebrate, only for the flag to inexplicabley appear later. After half time City were out first and clearly in the mood to do even more to be level. The irrepressible Knight should have equalised with a glancing header at the near post off Kal Naismith's right wing corner, but by the hour mark it was all square as Knight again poured forward and fed Sykes who lasered a low ball across the face of goal to where a quick thinking Wells peeled off his marker at the far post to tap in - silencing a boisterous home crowd in front of the away support. Now it was City on top and largely in control and Hull playing on the break. Wells saw an amazing overhead kick somehow clawed off the line from Naismith's corner - although at the other end Aaron Connolly somehow ran clean through to force a brilliant low block from O'Leary, who also did well to keep out Scott Twine's close range free kick after the hosts had not for the first time got upfield to throw themselves to ground cheaply as they had in a controversial penalty a year earlier. A brief cameo from Andi Weimann as City looked to turn the screw saw an unfortunate reoccurrence of his heel injury - going back off after just 3 minutes - but it did not stop the visitors search for a winner, albeit sub Óscar Estupiñán had a couple of sighters at the other end. In injury time late introduction Harry Cornick jinked easily past his marker and into the box from the left and almost forced home with a curling effort at the near post that needed Hull to desperately clear. Indeed the match finished with an almighty rearguard action from the Tigers as with a carbon copy of their finish at Millwall, City rallied in front of their away section from a series of Cornick long throws. Knight, Vyner and even new man Taylor Gardner-Hickman forced a series of last gasp blocks with well struck shots, the last miraculousy deflected over - it could have gone anywhere - as the match finished with a corner for resurgent City who had looked most likely to win it. At full time and with the thunder and drizzle long since departed, City's 400 fans in the North East corner of the ground filtered out to join their counterparts onto the overhead walkway back into the town. Excited chatter had turned into disgruntled moaning - not unlike the average day at Ashton Gate - as expectant, previously in form hosts found a typically topsy turvy Championship encounter leave them feeling second best, starting well but ground down by relentless City. O'Leary 8 Tanner 7 Pring 6 Vyner 6 Naismith 6 Williams 7 James 7 Knight 9 Bell 7 Sykes 7 Wells 8 Cornick 7 Weimann 5 Gardner-Hickman 6 Roberts 6 Mehmeti 6

I see that any remaining sense of shame at the club has now completely gone. Don't let them dress it up on social media with their fan cams and their chatty engagement, the contempt for supporters from those at the heart of the club is so obvious. Buying a substandard product at an inflated price is all you are to them. Also, trading standards should be involved every time they sell an item described as "Bristol City" with splat on it. Since when did it become okay to pass off this completely random nonsense as providing something representing the club? What next, buy a job lot of 99p white t-shirts down the market and sell them for £40 each as "Bristol City White T-shirts" - they may as well, providing actual club branding doesn't seem to be necessary any more. This is a race to the bottom. And not one of the people who claim to be connected or have a voice at the club have been able to do anything about it.

I know this is hardly the biggest takeaway from that article, but for a large feature piece by a respected newspaper and journalist it is pretty badly and lazily written. I had to re-read several lines multiple times just to understand what it was saying, and it seems to get confused between whether it's actually quoting "Nige" or not. In places it is just a stream of verbatim quotes - without much effort to tidy up meaning let alone actually structure a storyline around it to make the article readable. Perhaps we were spoiled by the other article from the Athletic a few weeks ago with Pearson which was a satisfying read because it was well written and had a story. This felt like someone transcribed an hour of conversation and chucked it all in with a few remarks to make it feel like a career in profile even if it jumps around a lot. As for the caption "Pearson celebrates Leicester’s promotion to the Championship in 2014 with his family" below a photo of him that says League 1 Champions 2009.

Oddly one of the few "oop North" midweek fixtures which is doable and can get back to London afterwards (with two changes and 3 and quarter hours of travelling). That was until they moved kick off back 15 minutes FFS.

That was the part of the comparison I probably recognised and enjoyed the most too - because it’s painfully true. This isn’t an LJ bashing session because I always gave him his dues for some amazing performances, especially away, but there were lots of reasons we never built a team, culture or identity under him and Foxpunter has absolutely nailed it. I remember saying season in season out under LJ we had a real defecit in leaders, and that LJ appeared to be terrified of having anyone that spoke back or had an opinion - precisely the sort of "taking responsibility" Pearson encourages. As Foxpunter has perfectly encapsulated, as the complex tactician and innovator, LJ wanted malleable young robots who should do whatever he told them, form no plan of their own, and (my view) get blamed or humiliated when they didn't. Which meant whenever it went wrong, they were completely emasculated, just pieces on a board that either through fear or sheer neutralisation would look to LJ for what to do next, or more commonly need subbing off and throwing away. It's such a clear transition to NPs constant "take responsibility" and "players finding solutions" and culture of leadership. The great irony being NP wrongly has a rep as a bully yet it's LJ's approach to players that far far more exhibits that.

After a desperately long wait for a celebratory pint, having peeled off from the police escort and sneaked into the Spoons at Surrey Quays, we overheard a couple of very old Millwall boys disecting the game in the queue for the bar. I was pleased to hear the first surmise “Didn’t deserve anything, they ran the game” but more interested as his mate responded “Fack off you’re joking, both teams were shite, they had the ball a lot but there was nothing in it for 70 minutes, they had one shot we had one shot, big deal. The substitutions were the difference.” Refreshingly (like the pint itself) they both had a point. City were absolutely in control of the game throughout and deserved winners, but not without the reality check that they created very little threat from their dominance and if not for Matty James’ 94th minute bicycle kick, might be rueing a lot of wasted effort. They were also right that subs - something Nigel Pearson gets criticism for - were decisive. Millwall badly needed an injection of pace and it came too little and too late. Energetic City needed only a top up and had long since introduced theirs. So with the hosts only finding direct running in the final 10 minutes - Max O’Leary making a crucial save from a free kick - City were already ably executing their second wave of pressure via subs Hayden Roberts, Anis Mehmeti, Kal Naismith and the relentless Harry Cornick, crucial strength in depth for a side that in prior years would have run out of steam. Further enhanced by chucking in 17 year old Ephraim Yeboah for exhausted Sam Bell as a final gamble on a winner. The teenager drew defenders from Cornick’s long throw and James was unmarked to oblige. On a cloudy, muggy day in in South East London the atmosphere pre kick off was tense to say the least. The sell out home crowd for the memorial of sadly departed chairman John Berylson was boisterous but stoic in equal measures. This coupled with train strikes forcing away fans to converge at the Den from all directions - where an endless convoy of police vans and small army of glum faced coppers watched on nervously - gave the day something of an edge. Happily fans on all sides impeccably celebrated the memory of the much loved Millwall owner. City fielded two changes from the side which drew 1-1 with Preston, Joe Williams replacing the injured Andi Weimann in midfield and Mark Sykes replacing Cornick out wide. The pattern of the match was obvious almost immediately as Millwall in a 5-3-2 looked to release wingbacks Joe Bryan and Danny McNamara down both touchlines but got little change from an organised City back four that consistently blocked their lanes or ran them out of play. Conversely in the middle City had complete control and looked a yard sharper and faster than their hosts. Zak Vyner’s diving block to deny Duncan Watmore’s rate sighter of goal was typical of the resolute defending while at the other end Sykes and Nahki Wells were agonisingly close to rifling home at close range from a James corner. City had two passable calls for a penalty, once as a defender blocked Wells touch and the ball ricocheted up into his outstretched arm, then later as Bell, in one of his characteristic surging diagonal runs from out wide, appeared to be bundled over chasing through into the box off the left flank. Keith Stroud was not interested. For all their dominance City had nothing to show for it at half time - and there was always a fear they may rue the failure to convert possession into advantage. The conversation at half time was that Millwall surely couldn’t be as poor in the second half. Thankfully, they were. The Lions continued to labour out wide, while City continued to build slickly through the middle, although breaking the lines against the hosts back 5 meant chances in and around the box were at a premium, and the game began to develop an attritional feel with several robust challenges. But it was the substitutes who breathed new life into the match for City after the hour where otherwise they may have fizzled out. Pearson’s men appeared re-energised and more incisive with Cornick and Mehmeti running from wide against back-pedalling defenders. First James ran from the channel and curled a low fizzing shot from outside the box that roared wide. Next typically blood and thunder work from Pring allowed it to open up for Mehmeti’s run and from a similar position in the left channel he slammed a drilled effort inches past the same post. Smart thinking from Tanner from a tame Naismith right wing corner recycled the opportunity as he headed a half clearance back into the box and over the entire defence where Bell turned his head to instinctively glance the ball onward at the near post but just the wrong side of the woodwork. As he had done on Wednesday, sub Roberts appeared to introduce another level of precision and thought in attacking situations, as City turned the screw, Jason Knight stealing the ball away in midfield and striding upfield to play in Cornick, whose shot was blocked. A tired looking Bell had two further chances, but Millwall were also capitalising on space afforded by City’s confident attacking, with Bryan firing wildly over following a counter attack. Indeed the unthinkable started to occur to City’s massed ranks as the home side belatedly added pace up front in the final 10 - they couldn’t produce a smash and grab win from a match they were comfortably second best in? That seemed possible when sub Romain Esse was felled by Vyner and George Saville’s low free kick required a brilliant O’Leary double save in the final minute. Even the draw was flattering Millwall so an unlikely win would have been surreal. But instead it was neither thanks to James’ bit of magic deep in injury time. Cornick, grinning at the two tiers of away fans to his right as they encouraged his long throw, launched the ball into the box. Late sub Yeboah and Dickie converged short for the flick on, drawing defenders as they did. Bryan threw himself to the ground hoping for a foul, the ball carried to the back of the box where City’s captain was unmarked and swivelled to catapult his dipping volley into the bottom corner. It’s an overused word but pandemonium in the stand behind the goal as fans cart wheeled towards the front of the terracing in rapture, while away players mobbed their skipper. Sometimes games deserve goals, and this was the goal this game deserved. Pearson’s side had played with an energy, confidence and self-belief that was the better of their fancied opponents, but all of that endeavour had amounted to zero advantage for 90 minutes. So back in a Surrey Quays pub garden one elderly Lions fan had a point - but happily in the end City had all three. O’Leary 7 Tanner 8 Pring 8 Vyner 8 Dickie 8 Williams 7 Knight 8 James 7 Sykes 6 Bell 7 Wells 6 Naismith 6 Mehmeti 7 Cornick 8 Roberts 7 Yeboah 6

Absolutely, she's one of the barmaids, there's two of them who both have amazing voices. Lead singer of Dreadzone also drinks in there and does a ridiculous turn. It must be something about the pub, a lad who used to work behind the bar when he was 18 is now lead singer of Skinner Brothers who I'm reliably informed are one of the most in demand groups in the indie/punk/casuals music scene.

This is a surreal thread reading OTIB regulars talking about my locals 10 years to the day since I moved to the area. A lot has changed but there is still an edge here. Hobgoblin @WolfOfWestStreet used to be a proper boozer now gentrified to **** called the Rose and eye watering prices. But probably the easiest place as a Bristol City fan to get a drink before the Millwall game. Even seen City shirts in there in previous seasons on match days. Not my choice but easy place to recommend. Marquis of Granby @Red-Robbo hasn’t changed at all but no live music (that’s New Cross Inn opposite) and full of students so biggest trouble at the moment is misgendering someone. Landlord is lovely bloke and got a job lot of Addlestones out of nowhere about 2 years ago so popped in quite a bit until it ran out. Venue @Mr Popodopolous yes now closed down, temporarily opened a large bar in the building after Covid dedicated to street art so felt more like a Bristol thing but that’s also now stopped. Used to remind me of Odyssey, an absolute monster of a club but can’t say I enjoyed the music much and dangerously under age. White Hart flirted with being a strip club then reinvented itself as an ultra gentrified independent pub that attracted all the right on people in the area and had a 6am license to run breakbeat DJ nights. Had rhubarb cider on tap. Developer built one flat above it who instantly complained about the noise and got it shut down. Amazing area when you consider Skehans is currently rated by Timeout as number one pub in London. I know the Irish landlord Bryan and used to drink in there after getting back from City games all the time, had a wonderful lock in culture with some old Millwall boys, but now so painfully popular it’s difficult to enjoy it. The last remaining proper boozer here is Five Bells my local and favourite and probably resembles all the stories rolled into one. Proper Millwall pub and always something kicking off in or outside but absolutely lovely people and some real characters. Bit of banter about football but also somewhere people know your name and say hello. Unfortunately Strongbow on tap but the Landlord got a ten pack of Gold on Thursday and proceeded to work through it with me this week ahead of the game. The pub is probably the safest place in New Cross because the locals look after it and one another, outside however I’ve seen it all. Shootings, beatings, runaway mobility scooter. But what a place as per video below - not much to look at and packed with Millwall until late last night, but karaoke in full swing, eclectic mix of people and one of the last proper locals you will find in South London, not all this gentrified over priced nonsense. One of the reasons I love away games is many more real pubs up North.

My local? ? Not the only one but lively on match days (great boozer though with a good crowd who look after the area) https://fb.watch/mjpORFMz7H/

When you think about it it's really not that odd

1 and 381 buses are from Surrey Quays and if people are going all the way there you may as well walk the last bit. Also no need for Jubilee Line with two changes, Elizabeth Line to Whitechapel, change for Surrey Quays is far quicker now. If people are drinking at London Bridge then the 21 runs every 5-8 minutes and getting off at the Ilderton Road stop is a 10 minute straight road walk down it to the ground (from New Cross / Peckham side).