Albert Sports Bar, Retford

Albert Sports Bar, or Albertos as it’s otherwise known, has an L-shaped serving counter on the rear wall where premium and standard keg was available from a mardy young barmaid during a recent midweek evening visit. Thankfully the sports loving locals were friendlier, I ended up in a best of three darts match with one on the board up the right of the counter where the surround is brilliant. High tables are found up the left of the counter and there’s a pool table across the front windows. Unsurprisingly televisions throughout were airing sports television. This is maybe not somewhere that would be included in a crawl of the area, but as a sports destination it’s great and I’d revisit if I was in town when the Bees were on the box.

Also known as Albertos, it claims to be Retford's premier sports bar. It has a few screens, machines which occupied the bar staff, and a pool table. There’s a couple of big photo montages on the walls showing various sports. A single square room with a U shaped servery in the middle, high seating down each arm of the U. Two horseshoes with a solo and a double Cruzcampo have a single hand pump lurking in the middle. It dispensed a frighteningly cold Batemans Gold but not vinegar as I feared given the surrounding lager drinkers. A back street boozer best left to the locals.

Facebook page of Alberto's - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of Alberto's - www.facebook.com

The closest surviving pub to the station and originally the Albert Hotel, this little backstreet boozer has become more of a sports bar with TV screens and a pool table in a very dated interior refurb featuring lots of spurious stonework. They did at least show a bit of marketing nous, with a sign outside advertising Bateman’s XB on offer at £3 a pint, while the solitary handpump on the bar was dispensing Ringwood Razorback in fair condition. Quite a friendly place, and some corned beef rolls left over from the previous evening were offered and gratefully received, but a ‘To Let’ sign outside means things may change here.