By Ben Sanderson
Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, James Bond, Mike Tyson. No, this is not a list of the twentieth century’s greatest stars. These are just a few of the stars in Legends Sports Bar every night.
You are in elite company at Legends whenever you go in, with big names frequenting the bar in Leicester’s Gateway Street.
Statues of the stars of stage, screen and sport pop up to accompany customers – and they’re not the only ones. Leicester City FC names are all around Legends too, the current crop of players captured in pictures playing and celebrating.
It bills itself as “The Home of LCFC”. Whether a film, music or sports fan, Legends is likely to host someone you know well.
Legends offers screening of a range of sports, including football from Premier League, EFL, Champions League and European matches, as well as American football, rugby and cricket.
The place is a sporting hub at weekends and gets especially crowded on Leicester City matchdays.
What’s the atmosphere like? “Depends if they win or not!” jokes barman George, before adding: “It’s like a party and everyone’s friends. It’s a real celebration.”
He’s not kidding. After Leicester’s recent 5-0 and 9-0 demolitions of Newcastle United and Southampton respectively, the crowds spilled out into the street. It was quite a sight.
Music nights are similarly atmospheric at Legends. There is lots of music on, including regular karaoke, live bands and DJing of all the latest club hits.
It is very involved with Leicester’s music scene, hosting up-and-coming local bands such as Gazelle and Loaded. George also said the upcoming months will see a couple more of Leicester’s bands play there, with Loaded returning.
Legends is in the middle of the De Montfort University campus and the bar is keen to draw in students.
“Wednesday night is society night,” George said. “Demon FM come in. We made up PBS [Pint, Bottle, Shot] which you can get all for £5 and we also offer three gins for a tenner.”
Although the society night is created around Demon FM coming in, the deals are available for everybody. It’s a pretty cheap night out.
George described the bar’s first year: “We’ve got good regulars and we build a good rapport with guests. There’s a nice, diverse group of people here. People leave happy and they’ve always had a good night.”
That is what running a bar is all about – good atmosphere and a good time.
Of course, the most unique feature of this bar is the statues and they can’t be ignored – so, what’s George’s favourite statue?
“Marilyn, of course,” he replied. It’s hard to disagree. The statues all have an aura of classiness about them but Marilyn, as she always has, stands out.
Legends is one of Leicester’s best up-and-coming bars with a lively atmosphere, regular gigs and chatty staff.
What are you waiting for? Come on down to Legends – where Marilyn, Elvis and Mike Tyson are regular guests.
Excellent report
52 Gateway Street right off DMU SU building for anyone interested. Good to try to help! Thanks a bunch for the publication, Brian, I’ll keep the stories coming!