Scoring At The Abbey
World Cup Soccer Fans Offered One Hundred Thousand Welcomes At Park Hill’s Abbey Tavern
Story and photos by Reid Neureiter
For the GPHN
The Irish Gaelic greeting, “Céad míle fáilte” or “One Hundred Thousand Welcomes” appears on the sign of the East Colfax’s Abbey Tavern Irish pub. And during November and December’s soccer World Cup, tavern co-owner and founder Glen Eastwood welcomed standing-room-only crowds of passionate soccer fans cheering on their favorite teams while watching the soccer-centric pub’s seven big-screen televisions.
Eastwood came to the United States from Dublin, Ireland in 1994 and ran or managed a number of bars for nearly 20 years. In 2012, wanting to open his own pub, Eastwood and a partner saw the potential in a closed flower shop on the 5100 block of Colfax Avenue between Fairfax and Filbert streets.
The Abbey Tavern opened in November 2013, serving a menu that Eastwood describes as “Irish-American,” including everything from burgers, to Shepherd’s Pie, to traditional British fish and chips.
“I wanted to build a neighborhood pub,” Eastwood says. “A pub that I would be proud of, proud to own, a place where I would feel comfortable drinking.” He says he has strong backing from the Park Hill neighborhood, estimating that more than half his patrons live within a four-mile radius.
Eastwood himself is a supporter of Liverpool Football Club, the giant English soccer team with millions of devoted fans. Accordingly, he has secured the designation as Denver’s official Liverpool Supporters Club, meaning that the Tavern is committed to being open for and to televise all Liverpool games, time zones be damned.
The Tavern has done well, but it barely made it through the dark days of the COVID pandemic. Eastwood credits Denver’s soccer community for support those difficult months. To survive the pandemic, Eastwood appealed to Denver’s dedicated Liverpool fans “to order at least one meal or one hamburger a week.” The fans came through, says Eastwood, and the Tavern survived.
The Abbey Tavern’s popularity with soccer fans was apparent at noon on Dec. 10, when England met defending World Champion France in a World Cup quarterfinal. As Eastwood and his frenzied staff navigated the packed space to serve the thirsty devotees (the vast majority of whom were England supporters), the Tavern fell to a hushed silence after England fell behind 2-1 from a headed goal by French forward Olivier Giroud.
The atmosphere became cautiously hopeful minutes later when England was awarded a penalty kick that would have tied the game. But English star forward Harry Kane blasted his kick over the crossbar, and the Tavern let out a collective groan, accepting the reality that England would have to wait at least another four years to duplicate its single 1966 World Cup triumph.
A week later, on Dec. 18, Argentina prevailed over France, winning the one of the most thrilling finals in recent World Cup history. The last time Argentina won the Cup was in 1986.