Last Orders!

For many supporters, particularly those of a certain age, football and the pub (before and after) go hand in hand. It is one of life’s great partnerships like Morecombe and Wise; Bacon and Eggs or Dixon and Speedie!

I have often believed that Chelsea and Pubs have an especially close relationship. After all, the football club was founded in a pub – The Rising Sun – opposite the ground on the 10^th March 1905.  That always seemed utterly appropriate to me.

That particular pub also has special significance for me, as sometime in the 1980’s my then flat mate worked there as a barman. I naturally started going to games as a result of accompanying him to the Pub – The Stamford in those days – and I seem to recall a lot of celery being thrown around and a somewhat ‘naughty’ atmosphere.

Of course neither The Rising Sun or The Stamford exist in the manner of those halcyon days, like so many pubs, now transformed in to a pricey establishment concerned more with serving food to a more gentile and well-heeled crowd than fueling the all singing and celery throwing match day crowd thirsty on a Saturday afternoon.

Back in the day (like so many towns and cities) the area around Stamford Bridge had seemingly hundreds of Pubs. In those days they were ‘proper’ pubs – more spit and sawdust than chandelier and Chablis! It was where the pre-game atmosphere was generated, where you met up with your set of Chelsea mates, had a bellyful of booze and laughs and occasionally ran the gauntlet with the visiting away fans.

Other than the unique area that contains our beloved football club, I always felt that the number of decent pubs we had in close proximity to the ground marked us out as being somewhat different from the others.

But of course this has all changed over the last 10-20 years, and the decline in the number of Pubs near the ground seems to have reached epidemic proportions.

I have noticed that since I started coming back to the Bridge regularly some 15 years ago, practically every pub my lot have chosen as the pre and post-match pub has now gone. In fact the nomadic nature of our pub visits has been largely down to having to move out of necessity as each one closed or changed in to some poncey wine bar, bistro or restaurant.

We all used to meet up at the Wheatsheaf pub in Fulham road but left when it called time, well before it turned into a Sainsbury’s. Next was the George Pub on the roundabout. Decent boozer – old skool. It is now an Estate Agent. We found a home for a few years in what was the Jolly Maltster – a pub with a lot of Chelsea history – it actually still had sawdust on the floor when we re-visited it. However, at the start of one season we returned to find a notice pinned to the door proclaiming that “No singing would be tolerated in this pub anymore!”

We persisted with the pub nether the less, and enjoyed several good years there until finally a couple of seasons ago it went the whole hog, closed down and re-emerged as restaurant/bistro. No thanks we’ll go elsewhere!

Singing seems to be a very thorny issue with many pubs in the area and a distinct plan has been in operation to stamp out this clearly incendiary behaviour! The Britannia pub – opposite the ground was a great place for a sing song, and in prime position for ‘waving’ at the away fans and easy access to the ground. It became the So Bar and for several years remained one of the only pubs that tolerated singing. I was lucky to be one of the only film crew to film in there in 2009 and was privileged to be bombarded with celery as a reward. In truth the So Bar became somewhat a parody and a destination for match day tourists wanting to take a photo for facebook of their trip to London and a naughty football pub! Of course, with constant pressure from the Police, who never tolerated the pub, the landlord was forced to give in and sold out and the So Bar was replaced by of all things a Polynesian Cocktail bar. You can stick your cfcuking cocktails up your harris sideways!

Talking of cocktail bars one of the saddest closures of a Chelsea pub was the loss of the White Hart, opposite Fulham Broadway tube in 2005. A great old pub with some old skool Chelsea characters. I remember a hilarious post-match in there with Psycho Phil and Dr Mart just before it closed but that story is for another day. It was one of the oldest pubs in Fulham, originally called The Beggar’s Rest, its name changing to The White Hart during the reign of King Charles I. Needless to say it became a cocktail bar/nightclub/restaurant (delete as appropriate).

The Imperial pub in Kings Road was also an old favourite especially post-match, and I have very fond memories of drunken sing songs in the garden. In fact I recall Dr Mart (dressed bizarrely in blazer and grey slacks after an afternoon hosting in corporate hospitality) standing on one of the tables and leading the singing, much to the consternation of the other Chelsea supporters gathered there.

The Imperial has gone the way of so many pubs in the area, focussing on serving food and expensive drinks to what it sees as its core market – the vacuous Toby’s and Henrietta’s who populate the area during the week with their red trousers and Daddy’s allowance. It is a reminder that we are merely a fortnightly irritant. Our thirst and money does not carry the same weight, as we are not there regularly enough. Many times in the Imperial and other pubs, Chelsea supporters were moved out of the pub come 7.00 pm so that the real customers could be catered to. You really were made to feel like a third class citizen – can you imagine this happening in any other area near a football ground? We are clearly victims of our own exclusive environment!

The same thing has happened to two excellent pubs – The Lord Palmerston, latterly Morrisons where I enjoyed many post-match sing songs and also used as a pub to watch the game on TV when not actually there. It had a superb array of TV’s throughout the pub, but the locals did not want football fans there, and lo it has been boarded up for several years now. The Southern Cross pub was a fantastic venue for us for a couple of seasons – very cheap beer, and singing and raucous behaviour positively encouraged – I remember a brilliant night with Walter Otton and friends watching Chelsea win the Europa Cup, as well as drinking it out of Guinness during the Double victory parade. One of the things I loved about that pub was the beer stains on the ceiling denoting various Chelsea successes and triumphs.

Europa Cup Final in the Southern Cross

In the last few seasons we have generally been using the excellent Hand & Flower pub as our post-match haunt and a pub with a brilliant atmosphere, garden and decent beers and a good gathering of the usual suspects.

Singing in the Hand & Flower

Sadly I have learnt that this pub too is in jeopardy and likely to be consigned to the dustbin of history – a victim of the property developer’s huge monetary offer, an offer that no Landlord or brewery could resist. The Pelican, a pub that I have also enjoyed in recent years has gone the same way, and there are many many others.

It really is a very sad state of affairs that we are losing such an integral part of our football culture. It’s bad enough not being welcome, stopped from singing or cast out as a third class citizen, but to lose this history leaves a very unpalatable taste in the mouth.

It’s not all doom and gloom though. Some of the old pubs are re-opening. The Bull seems to have sorted out its problems and has resurfaced as the Chelsea Pensioner. The Finborough Arms – a pub I used to love back in the day – re-opened last season having been closed since 2006 (and in reality for a lot longer than that). It has in Gerry a fantastic owner who actually likes football fans, lovely bar staff and a decent selection of beers. It is proof that if we are treated well it will be reciprocated – the pub also has a theatre and both clienteles manage to co-exist quite happily. What worries me is that with my track record over the last 15 years, every pub I settle in ends up closing or fundamentally changing soon after – I’ll get my apologies in now!

Perhaps the only solution is one I have often discussed with likeminded friends, and that is to buy, own and run our own pub in the area. This is not as fanciful as it seems – I’m sure a syndicate of supporters could get the money together and make it happen. We could call it the ‘Blue Man’ perhaps with a portrait of the illustrious ‘Sheditor’ adorning the sign! But it could become a real home for us where we drink, sing, throw celery, celebrate, commiserate and most important add more chapters to the history and culture of Chelsea supporters and Chelsea pubs.

First published in cfcuk Fanzine – ‘Urry Up it’s Only a Pound!