It’s the FA Cup final again this weekend and, in case you somehow didn’t get the memo, it’s also another Manchester derby, so the hordes of Mancs who can’t make it to Wembley are obviously trying to figure out the best places to watch it.
Not only a back-to-back meeting between the two teams but just the second time in history that the iconic rivalry has been played out in the final, it’s safe to say it’s going to be a momentous occasion.
While tens of thousands of Mancs are set to descend upon the capital this Saturday, 25 May, we can’t all fit in there, so fans of both sides will be out in full force to watch the big fixture.
So, with that in mind, we thought we’d put together a dozen of the best places in town where you can watch the 2024 FA Cup final right here in Manchester. Let’s start with a few places for each fan base:
Man United pubs in the city centre
1. The Old Nag’s Head
David Dixon (via Geograph)MUSC Nottingham (via Twitter)The best place for any United fan to watch the game, let alone an FA Cup final.
If you’re a Red, there isn’t any other place to start than The Old Nag’s Head, without a doubt the most popular pub for Man United fans in the city. Spread across multiple floors, with plenty of screens, karaoke and a rooftop terrace to boot, it’s arguably the best place to be when you’re not at the game.
Next up is the Sir Ralph Abercromby, literally located just a street over from the Nag and equally packed with United fans on matchdays. With Class of ’92 members often spotted here, a massive beer garden with outdoor screens and even a fast food truck around the back, this place has everything you need to enjoy the game.
And thirdly we have Mulligans of Deansgate: a Manchester institution and home of the best pint of Guinness you’ll find in 0161. This Irish bar is heaving every weekend regardless, but it’s also a second home for lifelong Reds and has live music on every night. You’re sure to be chanting your head off in here if United win.
Now, as for Manchester City pubs, there isn’t any more famous than Mary D’s. The Beamish Bar, to give it its full title, is wall-to-wall with Blues before and after every matchday. Literally on the doorstep of the Etihad Stadium, it has a floor-to-ceiling painting of the old Maine Road ground and boasts affordable pints, live music and ‘the fastest service’ around. A Man City mecca, if you will.
2. The Waldorf
Right near the train station too. (The Waldorf via Instagram)
As for closer to the city centre, you don’t get much more convenient than The Waldorf. Though it often has other fans come through its doors, you can make no mistake about which fan base dominates this pub come a City matchday. Located little just down the steps from Piccadilly Station, it’s always full of Blues before, during and after games — it’s got a great selection of beer and food too.
As for our third and final pick for you Blues, The Townley is another one that is just a stone’s throw away from the Etihad — we’re talking only a couple of minutes. With a beer garden out front and in the back, not to mention still family-friendly enough to take the kids, it’s always a good vibe over here.
Sports bars in Manchester
Now, we obviously need a list of neutral places for people to go along to watch the game and while there are a hundred and one places that are perfect to watch the footy with a pint, but we just thought we’d pick out a few of our recent favourites to get you started.
These are in no particular order, either, we love them all too much to play favourites, so you’ll just have to make up your own minds on this one.
First on the list is BOX bar on Deansgate, which has quickly become not only one of the best places to watch sports in Manchester but one of the busiest bars in town full stop. Spread across two floors with screens on virtually every wall (including a massive jumbotron) not to mention shuffleboard, live music and massive pitchers of beer and cocktails, you can see why people pack this place out every weekend.
Next up is Tib Street Tavern which has remained a go-to for anyone wanting to watch sport in town for years and for good reason. With massive wall-sized screens, quality food, big booths for you to book with you and your mates, as well as great deals on booze, you have to be quick to get in here.
Another one of our personal faves is Calcio! over in the Northern Quarter. A relative newcomer to the Manchester sports bar scene, the Italian football-themed watering hole is a great place not only to watch this year’s Manchester derby FA Cup final but for whenever you fancy great food and retro videogames.
4. The Brotherhood
Last but not least, we have The Brotherhood Of Pursuits And Pastimes, to give it its full name. This Manc institution remains one of the best places to watch sport in town. Also boasting two floors with dozens of screens, pool tables, darts, table tennis and more, including a great food menu, it’s a regular haunt for post-work pints and matchday fans. Just look at how buzzing it was back in December — can’t go wrong.
Next up, it’s a mainstay on the ever-growing list of Manc sports bars for good reason: it’s a solid pub with great grub, lots on tap and, most importantly, lots of tellies. Big sharing platters, a pool table and a nice central location that’s easy for even out-of-towners to find, you won’t go far wrong with Directors Box
Last but not least, we’ve picked Gasworks over on First Street, in part because lots of people don’t realise they show live sport – but having spent many a final, Euros and World Cup match in here, we can confirm they drum up a great atmosphere.
Nice and neutral, not to mention with darts and shuffleboard to keep you busy, you’ll find plenty of footy fans and those just coming along for the day out gathering around the big projector in here come Saturday, 25 May.
A severely underrated spot when it comes to live sport, in our opinion. (Gasworks via IG)
This is, of course, by no means an exhaustive list but there are plenty more pubs and bars that will welcome any football fan ahead of the big fixture.
Regardless of who comes out on top, it’s going to be a massive day for the city and United and City fans everywhere, just make sure you look after each other and enjoy yourselves.
So, who do we reckon is winning it then? Is ten Hag going to make it two domestic cups in his first two seasons or are Pep’s Premier League champions going defend another third of the treble and manage a domestic double?
Featured Image — David Dixon/Calcio/Mary D’s Beamish Bar
Sport
Pep Guardiola hints at when Manchester City fans can expect to see their latest arrival
Danny Jones
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has given supporters a rough timeline as to when they can expect to see their new signing, or at least their latest arrival, make his first appearance.
The Blues wrapped up the January transfer window with four major signings: their new attacking number seven, Omar Marmoush (who has already bagged a hattrick on his home debut) promising defensive duo, Abdukodir Khusanov and Brazilian Vitor Reis, as well as their ‘mini-Rodri’, Nico Gonzalez.
However, the club has had another late arrival who was technically signed back at the start of last year but who has spent for the last 12 months or so loaned back to his previous parent club, River Plate in Argentina, waiting to make the move over to the Etihad Stadium – and now he’s here in Manchester.
Speaking on his touchdown in 0161, Pep said Claudio Echeverri won’t be thrown into first-team action straight away but did give a rough estimate as to when City fans could expect him to get involved. You can see him discussing the integration plan in his post-match press conference following the Spurs win.
The mention was only brief but there’s still plenty of reason for Man City fans to be excited by the late January signing.
“Yeah, he [Claudio Echeverri] is going to start to train and mainly will be for the end of the season, maybe the [Club] World Cup and as soon as possible [that] he arrives he can adapt quick for the future.”
As mentioned, the 19-year-old Argentinian attacking midfielder from Resistencia officially put pen to paper with CFG back in January 2024 and was quickly dubbed ‘the next Messi’.
Now, although the football world is often quick to jump the gun with these things and he isn’t the first and certainly won’t be last to be slapped with this premature title, he’s done more to back up these claims since then than he has rubbish them.
Starring at the 2025 Under-20 South American Championships, netting six goals in nine games to finish the tournament as the second highest scorer thanks to notable braces against Brazil and Uruguay as the young Argentine’s finished as runners up.
He also notched 48 senior appearances for River Plate thus far, netting four goals and grabbing eight assists in that time, not to mention having already captained his national team at the 2023 Under 17s World Cup, where he scored another five.
Safe to say there’s plenty of talent to be tapped in this lad.
Once again, Echeverri won’t go straight into the senior set-up for a little while yet, barring a major injury crisis, but he’ll be a more than exciting addition to the City Football Academy and for future first-team lineups for years to come.
Who knows, maybe he’ll be included in an FA Cup matchday squad? Nevertheless, you can expect him to not just come of the bench but hopefully show what he can do at the Club World Cup this summer.
City‘s first fixture as reigning champions of the competition will be against Moroccan side Wydad AC on 18 June 2025.
You can watch Echeverri’s first full interview as a Man City player down below:
The new Man City signing is excited to be finally be part of the club 13 months on from agreeing his contract.
‘Nothing is eternal’: Is Pep Guardiola hinting at the end of Manchester City’s supremacy?
Danny Jones
Pep Guardiola looks to have suggested that more than a decade of Manchester City’s supremacy and Premier League dominance at the very least might be coming to an end.
Speaking in his post-match press interviews after City were knocked out of the Champions League by serial European Cup winners Real Madrid, Guardiola cut a somewhat more deflated figure than usual following the 3-1 defeat.
A Kylian Mbappe hattrick which was closed out within an hour of play was enough to stretch the aggregate score to 6-3 over the two legs and Madrid doubling their lead across the tie proved yet again why, not unlike City domestically over the last decade, they’re the kings of the continental competition.
In contrast, however, Pep seemed to accept the loss much more easily than perhaps we’ve seen in the past and rather than appearing familiarly frustrated or defiant in the press conference; instead, he seemed rather reflective, responding to one reporter: “Nothing is eternal”.
🗣️ "Nothing is eternal" – Pep Guardiola.
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Insisting that they have to decide whether a significant rebuild is needed to keep competing at the very top level consistently as they have done since the 54-year-old arrived back in 2016, he argued that it is only with that they’ll be able to determine what comes next.
As for the result itself, he made no bones about Carlo Ancelotti’s side having “deserved it”, stating simply that “the best team won” and that fans and players alike have to “accept the reality: they were better.”
Having been a familiar foe for Pep long before he arrived in Manchester, both at Barcelona and Bayern Munich – not to mention City having faced Los Blancos a dozen times before Tuesday night since 2012 – there have been less surprising outcomes for supporters to come to terms with.
“With time, the club and everyone is going to accept what it is but for now we have 30/40 games for the Premier League next season to try and be here [in the Champions League] and to improve. Nothing is eternal”, said the Catalan coaching genius.
On the other hand, he also went on to add that it was merely a reflection on the night itself and not what his team have achieved in recent years.
He went on to remark that “when we were playing outstanding it hurt more” to be knocked out of the UCL when he felt they deserved to stay in it, but still insisted: “We have been unbelievable and we have to try step by step to get better from today.” Tonight just wasn’t the night.
Who knows? Perhaps it was just some more melodrama from a manager with an undeniable flare for pageantry and playing into/in the face of narratives when he doesn’t come out on top – which hasn’t happened all that often until their dip in form this season.
Plus, there’s certainly still plenty for him and the fans to be positive about; not only has the arrival of their ‘Egyptian Prince’ and the media’s Mo Salah successor, Omar Marmoush, got plenty of people excited – especially after that first-half hattrick against Newcastle – but so too have the other January signings.
In fact, for all of his downplaying in this particular presser (which you can hear in full HERE), it felt like there were only upsides after their victory over Newcastle, even going so far as to dub new signing Nico Gonzalez a ‘mini-Rodri‘.
You can watch the highlights from the game down below:
Pep is right, nothing is eternal – but sometimes you just come up against talents like Mbappe and there’s very little anyone can do about it.
Danny Jones -
23rd May 2024 
