Any fans in Chicago or travelling in for the US v Trinidad Tobago game this Wednesday should swing by The Globe Pub in the afternoon. There will be an afternoon pre-game party plus a bus (w/keg) that will take us out to Bridgeview and back after the game. Yours truly will be coming in for this. Hope to see you there!

The very Toulouse-Lautrec style image taken at The Globe Pub and provided by Flickr

Rival groups of birds behave like soccer fans, shouting chants at each other and commiserating with each other after a loss, research from England’s University of Bristol revealed Wednesday. Green woodhoopoes, a South African bird, live together in gangs of up to 12 and “rival groups often engage in raucous vocal displays, akin to opposing football supporters chanting at one another”, the university in the west of England said.

The research by Dr Andy Radford, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B, also revealed that the birds preen each other after a conflict, particularly when they have just lost or the battle lasted a long time. “Just as football fans commiserate with their friends in the pub when their team loses a match… birds support one another following contests with their rivals,” the university said in a statement.

Image via Zoomr

A few weeks ago we saw the MLS start a micro-site devoted to soccer pubs. Today, I see that US Soccer announced a similar program, the Official US Soccer Bar Program.

A good afternoon watching soccer at a quality pub with knowledgeable fans and an exciting atmosphere can take a person from a casual watcher of the game to a true obsessive. There is still a tremendous dearth of soccer-friendly pubs in this country, especially outside large US cities - places that will show the games even at odd hours with a minimum of anti-soccer rhetoric. I like that the USSF and MLS acknowledge this important part of soccer culture.

More More More!!!

I stopped by Villains Bar and Grill in Chicago yesterday. Located in the wildly gentrifiying South Loop neighborhood known as “Printer’s Row”, “Villains” is a laid back new neighborhood pub with an extremely eclectic selection of brews (Two Bros., Bell’s Amber, Beamish, etc) and a funky arty “late night” vibe highlighted by Warhol Elvis prints on the bar. Comfy booths, clean, low lighting, dark wood, non overpowering music, retro wallpaper, and an old pool table in the corner - this place is a cool place to relax and is a bit undiscovered right now. While not exactly a soccer pub, there are several flat screen tv’s - which show EPL and Fire games. The bartender I met was very hot highly knowledgable assisting this writer navigate the beverage menu.

Why should loyal TOW readers care about this place? Well, this bar is co-owned by “Soccer’s Rocky Balboa”, USMNT and Watford star, Jay DeMerit. I spoke with fellow co-owner, Marco, who gave me the history of the place, and also highly recommended I attend the weekly classic burlesque review . I said it was funky, no? Marco also shared a few tales of the Brazilian and American post-game party at Villains following their friendly in Chicago last summer. A nice place to visit if you are in the area - you will never see a creative beer menu quite like this - in a neighborhood that is rapidly becoming pretty cool.

Image via planet99

Here is a great new addition to the MLS site, the US soccer pub micro-site and map. Check it out here . I can tell you that Trinity Hall in Dallas and The Globe in Chicago bring outstanding atmosphere come international tournament time and have quality selections of brews.

Where is your favorite soccer pub? How many have you visited on this list? Are there any quality places missing?

Image via MLSnet

Owner John Bayliss has been doing it right since 1995 with The George & Dragon Pub in Seattle.

It’s easy to see what all the fuss is about and why you should be there for the big matches.

FC Uptown

image via GeorgeandDragonPub