Projo Pats Blog

LONDON -- The Duke of York, which bills itself as the "Rugby, Cricket, and Golf pub of London," will be showing football on the television in the bar on Sunday.

But it won't be the Patriots and Bucs the patrons will be watching.

"West Ham and Arsenal play a Premier League match at 4:15," said Tom Farley, a native Australian who manages the establishment.

That doesn't necessarily make Farley happy. His favorite sport is cricket and, from a business standpoint, he prefers it when rugby matches are shown on the pub's flat-screen TV.

"Rugby fans drink and have a good time, then stay around after the game is over," he said. "Footballers sit with one pint the entire game, then (shove) off when it ends. And you only see them once in a while."

The Duke of York relies on its regulars. It's what's referred to as a "local" -- a pub where the neighborhood folks go to have a wee nip, a bite to eat, meet friends, and, yes, watch sporting events.

Among the late-lunch crowd on a Thursday afternoon, for example, was an older woman and her dog, who sat quietly at her feet as she ate.

Carley, the bar maid, is a young woman from Sydney, Australia. Asked if American football ever was shown on the pub's TV, she replied: "Only on request."

The indications were that there weren't too many requests.

"Normally," she said, "we show a lot of rugby."

Next to cricket, Australian Rules Football is Farley's favorite game. He much prefers it to American football.

"You compare the two games," he said. "They're so different, they're not alike -- if that makes any sense to you. Aussie football is much rougher, because they don't wear any gear."

Comments

Kerouac said:

Did West Ham win this match? You never mentioned the final score. How come we don't get a final score? What kind of blog is this?

Link | October 24, 2009 12:47 AM
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sports betting said:

yeah, it won't be the Patriots and Bucs the patrons will be watching.

Link | November 1, 2009 5:33 PM
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