The Albion

I love football and dream of opening an od-​fashioned pub in GB when I retire but this place is a bit run down, scruffy and serves no food! Beer selection is OK but there’s enough competition in the neighbourhood you’d think they’d come up with something better than a coule of TVs and a quiz night.

A beautiful pub from the outside. It’s right by Broadway market so worth having a pint if passing. It’s a good football pub and is named after West Bromich Albion the Premiership team. Good friendly atmosphere where anyone can enjoy watching games.

Only pup I’ve ever been to where you can watch the football from the beer garden. Great atmosphere to watch a game.

The Albion is that typical place that makes you feel at home. Friendly staff and locals always up for a bubble while watching some gold old footy. There is a dart board if you get bored and of course, all kinds of beer! The pub owner will know you by name after a visit or two (something you do not find easily now a days). This place has exceeded my expectations in hospitality and down-​to-​earthiness.

If there is a better pub in London to watch football, I have yet to find it.
Run by a stratospherically-​massive West Brom fan, the Albion is a bastion of hospitality. There is paraphernalia from football clubs from around the world.
They offer a great selection of drinks, a bit of grub and a really friendly staff (the kind who will not bat an eyelid if you spill your drink following a goal… or do so twice.)
Try it out!

Unlike many of the Shoreditch/​Broadway Market pubs, The Albion is a proper boozer. It sells proper beer, it shows sport, it has a weekly quiz and it’s not inhabited entirely by look-​at-​me media types. What a breath of fresh air! If you want food, you can either bring your own meat for the grill or you can eat Wasabi peas.
This is the way it should be.

Given this pubs location in East London, it never occurred to me that it could have anything to do with West Bromwich Albion (I missed the big emblem on the way in). Even when I went through the door to the toilets marked Baggy Bogs the penny didn’t drop (the same penny I was about to spend?). However when I was faced with the subsequent choice of Baggy Boys and Baggy Babes, I finally figured it out. I’m a tad slow.
So you can probably guess that this is a football pub, although as we are not in season there was cricket on the big screen. There is a fair amount of memorabilia around the walls, including a lot of Arsenal stuff (the most local team of course) as well as the Baggies items
They have a couple of ales on tap including a bitter from the Pitfield Brewery.
I can see myself coming back here to take in some sport.

Ok so I gave it 5 stars. Could be as a biased Albion fan and this place is a shrine to the Baggies! A warm English pub with great décor (again a little biased with the Albion vibe!) and really friendly staff and customers. The landlord is a lifelong Baggies fan but welcomes all supporters. Even Wolves supporters! Theres never any trouble and the atmosphere is always warm and fun. Definetly recommend it to all but especially Baggies fans! Now I have moved away from the area I dont make it there very often but will make the effort whenever I can. Its the best!

The Albion is a truly classic pub, located in a pretty authentic area. At evenings, owing to its proximity to Broadway Market, the crowd changes over somewhat from the dowdy, footie blokes who while away their afternoons there. It’s pretty charming. And if you’re looking for some bar work they have been advertising for ‘cute’ people for as long as I can remember.
Be careful if wearing colours…

I find this pub a perfect choice for a quiet Sunday evening for a quiet chat with a friend and a good beer.
It has that old man feel, which makes it feel relaxed and a nice hide out which is free from trendies.
This cute pub has been regarded as the base for East Bromwich Albion FC supporters. It has a good selection of beers, ales at reasonable prices

What a funny little pub. Like a couple of the other pubs on Goldsmiths Row, it is very close to Broadway Market yet very different in its style. I love having the option of either going to Broadway Market for a beer in style, or keeping it real down on Goldsmiths Row.
The Albion is a very football orientated pub. It is cosy and has a real locals feel about it. Its white and brown exterior is welcoming, as is it tradition pub interior. It is essential a place for dinking beer and watching the game, not that you have to do exactly that. It has a rather nice little beer garden which is good for hot days.
You may notice the sign in the picture that says «Cute bar staff required.» I was not at all surprised when I saw this, it seems typical of its male dominated vibe.

So I got dragged here by some die-​hard football fans a couple of weeks ago to watch ‘The Game.’ So I reluctantly settled in for an afternoon of football-​watching and beer-​drinking. And I had a pretty good time.
Sure, The Albion isn’t the kind of place I’d usually frequent, but I loved it’s down-​to-​earth, comfortable vibe and lack of pretension.

I think I first walked into the Albion under the misguded impression that it might bear some reference to The Libertines but unless Mr Doherty and Co are hardcore West Bromwich Albion fans my judgement was slightly awry. Everything about this place revolves around football, from the various sporting memorabilia that adorns every available surface to the rather severe white and blue paint job in homage to the landlords team.
In spite of this there isn’t that tense macho atmosphere that accompanies most sports-​minded boozers and I found the place to be, on the contrary warm and inviting. It’s definitly a pub rather than a sports bar with lots of dark wood and comfortable chairs. Most ways you look your eyes will fall on a television set tuned into some football related news.
The bar itself sells a decent range of drinks at fairly reasonable prices and the staff are very pleasant. This would be the perfect place to come and enjoy a big game though if you’re not a fan of WBA I might advise cheering a little more quietly than usual.

I passed by the Albion many times before I actually went in. For some reason the outside gave me the impression it was a bit rough. How wrong I was…
Its run by a die-​hard West Bromwich Albion fan, a football club, according to Google Maps, which is located over 130 miles away in Birmingham. The owner has not only named his pub after his beloved club, he has festooned its interior with all manner of memorabilia from both their recent and not-​so-​recent history. That regalia is joined by all manner of other wall-​mounted football crests and shirts from around the world. Its interesting just to stand and take it all in.
Unsurprising then, that the main activity in the Albion, besides drinking Stella, is watching the beautiful game. Despite my initial impressions, its clean and tidy inside. The furniture doesn’t have that lived-​in, sat-​on staleness that most football boozers do. Another nice touch is the screen located in the window facing out onto the veranda, so that in fine weather, you are not forced to sit inside but can lounge at a picnic table.
If you don’t like football or lager, you should probably give it a miss. But if, like the owner, you’re a wandering WBA fan, or like me you occasionally enjoy watching big games in the atmosphere of a pub, the Albion is definitely worth a trip.