There will be various places in London showing the Champions League final on Saturday, June 1. The final will be contested between 15-time winners Real Madrid and German underdogs Borussia Dortmund. Here is a full breakdown of the best pubs and fan parks to watch the match on Saturday.
Wembley to ramp up security for Champions League final https://t.co/BANHucztPQ
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) May 28, 2024
Best places to watch the Champions League Final in London
Dortmund fans have been given access to a fan park in Hyde Park, while Real Madrid supporters have been given a spot on Victoria Embankment.
Both of these locations can house over 13,000 people, and if there are enough fans still at the designated locations during the match, the game will be shown on large screens to supporters without tickets.
For people who aren’t fans of either team and want to watch the game in London, there are plenty of locations across the capital. The Duke of Edinburgh pub in Brixton is a popular location as it has its own beer garden with a big screen.
If the weather stays fair, this is a prime location to watch football with your friends in the sun. Another outdoor venue worth visiting is Pub on the Park in Hackney. There are several TVs with plenty of seating for fans to watch live sport.
There are also chains of sports bars, including Belushi’s and Boxpark, if you are short of time. These venues provide street food, beers, and big screens.
It is important to note that booking is advised for both of these chains, as they can get busy, especially for big events such as the Champions League final. Fanzo is an extremely useful website to find pubs by location.
You can view the website here and search for the nearest pub to you.
Champions League final not to be shown at Trafalgar Square
Twenty thousand people are allowed to gather at Trafalgar Square on Saturday, but the game will not be shown due to fears of disorder like there was during UEFA Euro 2020.
Following England’s win against Denmark in 2021, fans were spotted climbing on buses and buildings at Trafalagar Square. Further unrest was caused by supporters ahead of the final at Wembley between England and Italy, which saw 2,000 fans go to the stadium without a ticket and try to get into the ground.
Violent skirmishes broke out at Wembley as lines of Metropolitan Police officers tried to block fans from entering the stadium, while violence was also reported insidehttps://t.co/llE9D1Qdqe pic.twitter.com/3rF5ymh6BV
— ITV News (@itvnews) July 11, 2021
Rachael Burford of The Standard released an exclusive on why the GLA has decided to close down fan zones at Trafalgar Square for the match this weekend. Included in her report was a document submitted to Westminster Council by a local resident. They said: “Given England’s successes that summer, I was delighted when I was invited as a guest to watch the screening of the final in Trafalgar Square.
“On arrival in Trafalgar Square, all appeared to be safe however prior to kick off I personally saw fans without tickets trying to break into the fan zone and glass bottles being thrown from outside the barriers… we were terrified.
“The police and on-site event management staff had little to no control of the events and their only advice was to move a bit further forward. When it became clear during the penalties that England might not win, our fears increased.
“The situation was capable of changing very quickly in the event of a loss and I distinctly remember having to sprint from the fan zone down towards Lambeth Bridge for our own personal safety.”