First Class Sports Bar, Wembley

This is a shop conversion bar that has every inch of wall space covered with old football photos and memorabilia. There are some sofas at the very front of the pub under the window and then the bar leads to a slightly larger area at the rear which houses a pool table. There is some more seating out the back in the form of picnic tables and at the back door there is what looks like a small bottled beer serving area which had a plasma screen above it. There are obviously more screens inside the pub and naturally the pub shows football on Sky Sports, it’s just a shame that a dartboard couldn’t be squeezed in somewhere. Predictably there is no real ale in here leaving only a standard draught range, but my Guinness was ok. I did have to get the glass changed though as it was dirty, but there were only apologies from the barman. There is probably a great atmosphere in here before and after matches at Wembley, but I’m not sure that I would return at any other time.

Located 200 hundred yards from Wembley Park Station and just a few minutes walk from the Stadium complex itself, the First Class Sports Bar is, needless to say, very busy on event days. The bar itself is fairly small but opens up towards the rear where a pool table is sutuated. As a museum of sporting artifacts and memorabilia, the place is second to none although 80% of it is geared towards football. The walls are plastered with shirts, balls, photos, programmes, ticket stubs, boxing gloves, cricket bats etc, some of which are autographed by some of world sports biggest stars (an autographed Pele Brazil shirt must be the pick of it all). There are also several interesting photos and models of the Stadium (old, new and inbetween) and multiple screens providing non stop sporting action. Sadly, as far as beers go, it is very standard with no Ales and just the usual kegs / lagers. For stadium events, the main bar is closed and punters are steered through to the enormous permanent marquee in the large, decked beer garden to the rear. The marquee is at least 4 times bigger than the bar itself and there are also plenty of covered benches outside and a few portaloos to cope with the additional outward flow. The marquee is equipped with a decent sized central bar and multiple screens although the beer choice is just as limited and the prices are aimed at maximizing profits from its additional customers. That said, it is generally well organized and despite being exteremely busy, service is good although there is a problem when barrels start to run dry. Overall it is an interesting bar to visit if you are a sports fan and there are certainly a lot worse pubs and bars in Wembley although the increased match day pricing policy (in tandem with several other pubs in the area) is rather galling.