Looking To Bond Over English Premiere League Soccer And A Few Morning Pints? Check Out These SoCal Fan Clubs

The English Premier League, England's top level soccer league, is celebrating its 160-year anniversary this year, and while England may be the birthplace of the beautiful game, there are no shortage of communities across Southern California that gather every week during the EPL season at watering holes around the Southland to cheer on their favorite club.

Despite being beloved by most of the Americas, the United States has been quite slow to adopt the beautiful game, but interest is on the rise in recent years thanks to the continued success of the U.S. Women’s National Team and TV series like Apple TV's Ted Lasso and FX's Welcome to Wrexham, not to mention the arrival of international icons like David Beckham, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sergio Busquets and Lionel Messi in the MLS.

But how does someone take that step from “biscuits with the boss” to “pints with lads and ladettes?” LAist's daily news program AirTalk, which airs on 89.3 FM, recently profiled just a few of the many Premiere League fan clubs in SoCal where British expats, American soccer fanatics and everyone in between can celebrate their love of the game.

An oasis for Manchester City fans at Culver City

If you're looking for a spot that's always open for Premiere League games, even those super-early-in-the-morning matches, check out Fox and Hounds in Studio City. It’s the home to local fans for Manchester City, the most successful team in Europe last season.

Club chair Bernadette Gilbey says the group started in 2012, the same year Argentine footballer and Man City all-time leading scorer Sergio “Kun” Aguero won them the league following a last-minute goal. Gilbey says the fan club was a result of a handful of folks wanting to enjoy their team's success together.

“They were in a lower division [when I first started watching] and I’ve watched the team climb. It’s been a heartbreaking but remarkable 30 years with the team," Gilbey told AirTalk host Larry Mantle.

When it comes to City fans at Fox and Hounds, she says for a 4:30 a.m. match you might see about a dozen die-hards at the bar, but for higher stakes games like the Champions League final, the numbers can reach the hundreds.

United in a Santa Monica pub

From one Manchester team to another, the Los Angeles chapter of Manchester United’s fan club has found itself calling different pubs home since its official inception, although the core group has existed since 2009. They’ve since set up base at O’Briens Irish Pub in Santa Monica, with fans getting to chant along with Willy, the owner of the bar who also happens to be a Man United fan himself.

“O’Briens Pub reached out to us,” says Amani Soyinka, chairwoman for the Manchester United Fans of Los Angeles (MULA). “The owner wanted to bring us in and that was honestly a match made in heaven.”

Fan-pub partnerships are the lifeblood of these communities, and Soyinka says MULA has struck a balance where crowds of all sizes feel accepted.

Manchester United fans pose at O'Brien's Irish Pub's outdoor patio as the team faced Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup on Feb. 26, 2023.

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Courtesy of Amani Soyinka and MULA

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Amani Soyinka

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“We have a core group of about 30 die-hards who show up to every match,” Soyinka says. “Last season, when Man United faced Newcastle United for the Carabao Cup, we packed the entire bar and the outdoor patio. We eventually had to turn people away.”

A sea of Blues by Seal Beach

Finding your team can be as simple as “right place, right time,” and that's exactly how John Costello got involved with the Orange County Chelsea FC fan club "OC Blues," of which Costello is now treasurer.

“They were the only team playing in London [when I visited],” Costello says. “[it has the] most pubs immediately around the grounds and the most supporter songs with the famous F-word in it. And I thought to myself, 'This is my club.'”

Chelsea is a team that doesn’t have an official affiliate fan system, so Chelsea in America serves as its closest source of community. Its original local members' came together back in 2007, realizing that the 15 of them would be best served to split into Los Angeles and Orange County branches.

Now the number has reached 482 registered members in Orange County, who meet at O'Malley's in Seal Beach, and 466 in Los Angeles, who meet at Joxer Daly's in Culver City.

Tottenham’s Lane of white jerseys in Highland Park

Fans and members of the LA Spurs attend a viewing party of Tottenham Hotspur vs Crystal Palace in 2019.

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Courtesy of LA Spurs

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LA Spurs

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No other local fan club has had as longstanding of history as L.A. Spurs, the affiliated fan club for London-based club Tottenham Hotspur. The L.A. Spurs have been around since the late-1990s and became an affiliated fan club in 2005, according to co-founder Rolfe Jones.

As with all fandoms, they have peaks and lulls, but the highlight of their fan club was the Champions League final the team made in 2019. The group managed to total 1,800 attendees at four bars across Highland Park. Typically, though, you’ll find the group at the Greyhound Bar & Grill on 56th and Figueroa.

“We're playing Manchester United this coming weekend so we should expect a very good crowd,” says Jones. “I would suspect at least 150 for that game.”

Listen to the conversation