No Idea and Ryleighs Revved Up for Liverpool vs. Tottenham
“Saturday should be a top three day in the history of the bar,” No Idea Tavern owner Jason Zink told SouthBMore.com. South Baltimore’s No Idea has hosted a Liverpool Football Club fan club for five years, the Baltimore Reds, and are expecting crowds of a couple hundred before and after this Saturday’s match featuring Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur at 1pm at M&T Bank Stadium.
South Baltimore’s own Under Armour inked a five-year deal to provide jersey’s and team apparel for Tottenham Hotspur starting in the 2012-2013 season, and it provided an opportunity for Federal Hill’s Ryleighs Oyster. “We have great relationships with Under Armour, and it made sense for us to become the official fan club of Tottenham in Baltimore, now called the Baltimore Spurs,” Ryleighs owner Brian McComas told SouthBMore.com. “We expect the size of Saturday’s crowd to be the equivalent of a Raven’s playoff game.”
No Idea bartenders Simon Stansfield, a native of England, and John Pozniak are big Liverpool fans, and worked with Zink to begin the Baltimore Reds. “We’ve been building up our following for five years, and it got off to a really slow start, but now we get anywhere from 25 to 100 very enthusiastic fans for every game,” said Zink. Most games are played early Saturday mornings, where you’ll find No idea filled with red jerseys and scarves. No Idea also features fan clubs for Penn State and they New York Jets, and the Reds crowds are equivalent to the other two.
The Baltimore Spurs also presents a new neighborhood rivalry for Ryleighs. Tottenham and Arsenal, both from London, are huge rivals and their matches are known as the North London Derby. “Just a few doors down from us is Abbey Burger Bistro, which is a big Arsenal bar, so now the two of us can have our own rivalry called the North Cross St. Derby,” said McComas.
The game also features an opportunity to bring fans from all over the world to South Baltimore. “We’ve heard from fan clubs and supporters in many different American cities, as well as Canada and overseas. Many will be coming into town Friday to spend the weekend in Baltimore,” said McComas. “I’ve heard from fans as far as Australia, and we’ve been in contact with fan clubs from England, Washington DC, Atlanta, Tampa, Philly, Boston and NYC,” said Zink.
It will be a weekend full of celebration for Ryleighs. 35 VIPS from the Baltimore Spurs and Ryleighs will attend a closed practice at M&T Bank Stadium on Friday. Ryleigh’s celebration will be sponsored by Under Armour and will feature some surprises outside for everybody as well as special guests. Ryleighs and their beer garden will open at 8am on Saturday morning and will feature happy hour prices until 7pm. “At 1130am we will begin a march over to the stadium, stopping first at the Under Armour Expo,” said McComas.
No Idea will be throwing a block party on the unit-block of W. Heath St. which goes from Charles St. to the front of No Idea on Hanover St. from 10am-8pm, and the bar will open at 6am. The block party will be serving draft beer, and Chef Craig will be working his BBQ grill. Members of the Baltimore Reds will get half off their drinks. “It should be a lot of fun,” said Zink.
Whether you are a fan of Tottenham, a fan of Liverpool, a Baltimore Red, a Baltimore Spur, a fan of another team, or just a casual observer, it should be a great weekend for downtown Baltimore. Tickets are still available, so stop by No Idea, stop by Ryleigh’s, hit the Under Amour Expo, and if you still have the energy, the Orioles first pitch vs. Oakland is at 7:05pm.
About the Author: Kevin Lynch
Founder and Publisher of SouthBmore.com, longtime resident of South Baltimore, and a graduate of Towson University. Diehard Ravens and O's fan, father of three, amateur pizza chef, skateboarder, and "bar food" foodie. Email me at Kevin@InceptMM.com and follow me on Twitter at @SoBoKevin.
