The Old Peacock, Leeds

Opposite Leeds United’s Elland Road ground, in spite of “old” in the name it’s a 1960s brick box owned by Greene King but run by Ossett. The counter is front and centre on entering with eight hand pumps serving a range of Ossett beers, mostly doubled up, there’s a ninth unused one and a rack of keg outlets serving popular international brands. This bar is traditionally furnished with tables, chairs and leather sofas, a screen dangles at each end. There’s a nice Victorian fireplace at one end rescued from somewhere, possibly Andy Thornton’s repro emporium. At the right rear is a more formal dining area with a counter housing four more pulls and a couple of keg founts, it has nice peacock decoration. Canned music plays constantly at just too loud a level. Pleasant enough refurbishment but not sure I’d like to visit on match days.

Not normally the sort of pub I would venture into on a matchday, being so close to a football ground. However, we had a little time and we'd spotted the Ossett Brewery signs on the outside and decided to have a swift one before our midweek match at Elland Road. 4 handpulls were dispensing Yorkshire Blonde, Silver King, White Rat & Butterley into plastic glasses. Being so close to kick off, service was prompt and there weren't as many people hanging around as if we would have gone in 20-30 minutes earlier. So, we managed to have a fairly pleasant drink to keep us going. There are a couple of nicely appointed rooms and I have to say that this place was much better inside than how I anticipated it to be, having only walked past it along the road to and from the ground for many years. I doubt away fans are particularly welcomed with open arms in here and as a pub in a city with many fine pubs, it's fairly average. But for a pub next to a football ground, it's not a bad choice at all.