The best: Places to watch live football in Manchester

One of the absolute best pubs Manchester city centre has to offer, matchdays at the Abercromby are always buzzing, whether it be fans stopping by before and after games, or buckling down to watch on one of the pub’s plentiful screens, it’s a fantastic old-school boozer.

With a whopping 25 HD screens spread around its huge Deansgate venue, BOX will be showing all the action throughout the season. If there are a few of you, table bookings can be made in advance using the button below.

Libero is renowned for combining a passion for great local beers with vintage football. The end result is a cosy, charming craft beer bar, surfaces adorned with eclectic swathes of sporting memorabilia of yesteryear — think Football Italia meets Pomona Island. It’s a tiny gaff, so message ahead to book a spot.

Spread across two floors, Brotherhood is a stylish take on the classic American sports bar concept. There’s a seemingly endless array of big screens, along with darts boards, ping pong and pool tables thrown in for good measure.

Just a 20-minute tram ride out of town and into the South Manchester suburbs, the famous Fletcher Moss Pub is a Didsbury Village institution. It attracts big crowds on matchday making for a lively but always friendly atmosphere, and the sprawling, heated terrace out back is as good a spot as any for the post-match debrief.

Dead centre of one of the Northern Quarter’s most famous streets, Tib Street Tavern has probably cemented itself as the go-to spot for live football in town over the last decade or so. With that being said, it gets unsurprisingly busy, especially for big games, so it’s always worth seeing if you can book one of their comfy boothes ahead of time.

Right in the heart of the Northern Quarter, Calcio is a hybrid retro gaming-sports bar that has become a firm favourite in its still relatively short time in town. Acclaimed chef Caroline Martins currently looks after the kitchen, too, with her excellent Brazilian-Mexican fusion concept, RIO-MEX, so we can confidently say you’d struggle to find a sports bar with a better food offering.

While primarily labelling itself as a music bar, one with a stellar collection of vinyl and craft beer, Movement has become one of the city’s more understated spots to watch football, and is a solid choice if you want to avoid the typical sports bar or pub.

Despite Sixes’ bread and butter obviously being cricket, the huge Corn Exchange venue is littered with screens regularly showing Premier League football. Plus, after full-time, you can jump in one of the cutting-edge batting nets and maybe even uncover a hidden knack for a whole other sport.

Renowned for pulling Manchester’s best Guinness, Mulligans is the city’s oldest authentic Irish pub and its lively weekends are the stuff of legend, even more so when there’s a game on…

Fresh from a fantast-looking refurb, The New Oxford on Chapel Street is a wonderful traditional pub just on the outskirts of town. Along with stocking a tidy selection of Real Ales and Belgian beer, it boasts one of our favourite beer gardens, with guests able to enjoy an al fresco pint in the historic Bexley Square.

Not many beer gardens can claim to basically back out onto a Roman fort, but that’s the case with The White Lion, which as good as shares its outdoor area with Castlefield’s acient military fortress. Inside, it’s a good, old fashioned pub, with sport pretty much a constant on its screens.

Housed in the former, iconic, Font site, Mother Mary’s is Manchester’s newest Irish bar. Along with an ambitious live music programme, the bar is also keen to establish itself as a popular choice for live sports. The team even offer a £10 Sport Season card, which includes discounts, drinks deals and priority table booking.

The recently opened competitive bar concept, Black Cat Club, from the El Gato and Canto teams, will have matches across its five large screens. With shuffleboard and darts also available, there’s plenty to go at for those duller affairs.

If you want to sip on some of Manchester’s best and freshest pints while you watch the football, then Green Arches Bar and Brewery will be showing all televised Premier League games, as well as Champions League fixtures all season long.