Where to watch the 2010 World Cup in London

This summer, the World Cup is heading to South Africa and unlike the rather disastrous Euro 2008, England will be playing too! If you’ve recently moved to London or will be living here by 11th June when it all kicks off, you might be wondering where the best place to watch the football is. So we’re here to give you some ideas.

Things you need to know:

• South Africa are 2 hours ahead of us.
• Matches are scheduled to take place at 12.30pm, 3pm and 7.30pm (English time).
• England are in Group C with Algeria, USA and Slovenia.
• The first 3 England group games will take place as follows: England vs USA (Saturday 12th June, 7.30pm), England vs Algeria (Friday 18th June, 7.30pm) and England vs Slovenia (Wednesday 23rd June, 3pm).

Throw your own World Cup Party

As the first two group games are taking place at the weekend, you might be tempted to throw your own World Cup party. Invite a few friends round, get some beers in, maybe have a bet or two, throw some meat on a BBQ and above all else watch England play in HD! Sky are currently offering starter HD packages at £28 per month, which includes a FREE HD box, FREE set-up fee and a £25 M+S voucher. For more tips, read our article on how to throw a great house party!

Watch the football in 3d
With the launch of 3d football this year, you can head down to one of London’s 3d pubs, don a pair of silly glasses and duck when the ball is kicked! Use this useful tool to find a London pub showing the football in 3d.

For any Aussies out there …..
Or even if you’re not Aussie, but just fancy watching the World Cup in a place with bucketloads of atmosphere……. head to your nearest Walkabout pub.
There are 6 Walkabouts in London, located at Temple, Shepherd’s Bush, Covent Garden, Watford, Finchley Road and Wimbledon. Starting from £5 per person, Walkabout are offering a variety of tiered World Cup packages. Bronze gets you guaranteed entry and a reserved viewing area with an HD screen. Silver includes the Bronze package but will offer a 3D screen where available, plus a bottle of Budweiser or a pint of Carling. Gold includes the Silver package plus a hot dog and a dedicated waitress service. A Platinum level package is the Gold package for you and a mate to ALL England group stage games, plus 5 additional games of your choice.

Combine football and bowling

A great choice for the England vs USA game, you could go to an authentic American-style venue and head to All Star Lanes in either Bayswater, Brick Lane or Holborn. You can either book a private event in a reserved area of one of their venues, or alternatively just book a lane in advance and watch the game from giant screens in their diner, bar or alongside the lanes.

Watch the football in a Sports Bar

The Sports Cafe in London is the obvious choice for football fans. Located on Haymarket, the bar will be showing all the England games. You can either book a World Cup package, or reserve an area. It’s worth reserving as it’s bound to be absolutely packed. After the football there will be a DJ spinning tunes until 3am. Similarly, you could also watch the games at the Sports Bar and Grill chain located at Marylebone or Victoria stations.

Hopefully there are enough ideas here to get you started. London has an amazing atmosphere during the World Cup. Whether you’re normally a football fan or not, it’s impossible not to get involved to some extent. You never know, maybe 2010 will be England’s year!!!

Sport in London

When you move to London, playing sport doesn’t have to stop just because you’re living in a busy city. You don’t have to be stuck on a treadmill to keep trim, there are plenty of team activities, whether on an extremely casual or more serious basis. Joining a sports team is also a great way to meet new people, as there are often after game-drinks and social events.
 

5-a-side football has after-work and weekend leagues based mainly across South London in areas such as Battersea, Clapham, Tooting, Balham and also Chiswick in West London. The site details how many spaces are left for each location, with the option to join a waiting list. 7-a-side games are also available through this site.

Netball is available in different locations across North, Central and South London. You can either register as part of a full team, or if you don’t know anyone that you can be added to a fill-in database, which all teams have access to, and you will be contacted when a team needs an extra player.

Hockey is a slightly more expensive sport, which normally requires a commitment in the form of subs fees. South London has the London Wayfarers Club as well as the Tulse Hill and Dulwich Hockey Club

East London is covered by the East London Hockey Club and West London by the PHC Chiswick Club .

Another way to meet people whilst exercising is to join a military fitness army bootcamp, such as the Gavin Walsh Boot Camp which has locations all over London.

There is also an excellent initiative called TennisForFree.com which tells you the free tennis courts that are available in a particular council borough.