I’m posting this very late. I recently quit my job to focus on traveling and freelancing, so have been taking that in. It’s great to be back :)
Good evening everyone,
I’m writing this a little over twelve hours before we play Brighton at Elland Road. It’s been a good past few weeks, but much more relaxed as we’ve been staying in a few cities vs. backpacking around.
We were most recently in Buenos Aires, Argentina. During our time there, Leeds played three matches. One against Southampton and the others against Fulham and Chelsea. I watched the Fulham match at home, so we’ll focus on the other games in the blog.
Let’s dive in!
Finding a place for the match(es)
If you’re going to Buenos Aires, I recommend staying in an area called Palermo. It’s a very nice area a bit outside the city center with a lot of night life. We stayed in a small apartment a few minutes walk from the busier parts, and we found it very quaint and safe.
For the football, there are a lot of pubs and bars in Palermo that can show the matches. Via a google maps search, I found Sullivan’s, an Irish pub that is open every day from 9am-2am.
In Argentina, all the premier league football is on ESPN or a streaming app called Star+. This is important because some pubs will show matches on ESPN, but they might not have access to Star+. Before asking if a pub can show a match, use this website to see what service will be showing the match in any given country.
The Leeds vs. Southampton match was shown on Star+. A few days before the game, I went over to the pub and asked if they could show the game on the streaming service. They said yes, and all was sorted!
For Leeds vs. Chelsea, it was the exact same process, but for a place called Locos x el Futbol. Locos is a pub in Recoleta that is known for showing football matches. Since it’s driving distance from Palermo, I made a detour to the area when I was going back to Palermo from the city center to ask the manager if they could show the game.
I’m starting to find that in South America, it’s best to head to the pub a few days before and ask in-person if they can show the football. WhatsApp responsiveness is hit or miss.
Watching the match(es)
Both games were unique. For the Southampton match, our friends at Newell’s put me in touch with a Leeds fan traveling in Buenos Aires and he joined us for the match. It was great to go through those stressful ninety minutes with another fan!
When we arrived at Sullivan’s, there were a couple of English lads on holiday who were there for the football as well. We all decided to sit together to watch the Leeds match, and we had a great time having a few pints and sharing stories about our travels. After a few pints were necked, the chatter about the football commenced. Genuinely was a great time.
Sullivan’s certainly had an Irish pub vibe to it, and there was a load of sport going on. There were Irish and English rugby fans, Napoli had a supporters group there, and there was us Leeds fans shouting at the TV relentlessly when Firpo scored his winner.
For the Chelsea match, I put out a feeler on Twitter to see if there were any Leeds fans in the area, and someone got back! Jonathon is from Leeds and lives in Buenos Aires, and he joined us at Locos x el Futbol.
It was great to watch another game with a Leeds fan, and while the performance wasn’t great, I did enjoy having a chat and reminiscing about our days in the Championship. Meeting other fans it is certainly starting to be a highlight of this trip.
When we got to Locos, we ordered a few drinks and waited for kickoff. In Argentina, sometimes the streaming service, Star+, doesn’t work so always be prepared and have your phone charged. For the Chelsea match, the stream was down for the first 30 minutes of the match, so I had to pull it up on my phone. I used my stream from back home via a VPN.
Locos was a bit dead, which I found weird for the 3pm premier league matches, so the environment didn’t necessarily match Sullivan’s.
The service was fantastic in both places, but if I had to recommend a place to watch the football in Buenos Aires, I’d say Sullivan’s.
Overall experience watching the match(es)
One of the best bits of traveling is meeting people from different walks of life, and also connecting with those who you have a lot in common with. Buenos Aires is a massive city, and there’s no shortage of tourists.
In an area like Palermo, places like Sullivan’s likely attract tourists looking to watch football by virtue of being an Irish pub. So, I’d highly recommend going because there’s a good chance you’ll meet someone from the UK. But, Locos does have more TVs available for the premier league, so you might have a better chance of catching the game there if you’d didn’t ask for Leeds specifically a few days prior. In both cases, get there 30-40 minutes early to secure your spot.
The service was good in both places, and the costs were similar. I reckon we spent around 30 USD for 3-4 drinks each (we had a bit more fun this time round!).
It was a really good experience, and was great to be surrounded by people who we had things in common with. And, Leeds finally won a game!
Will finish off with a reminder. In Argentina, always go to the pub a few days before and ask if they can show the football on either ESPN or Star+. Use this website to confirm what channel the match is on.
Cheers everyone!