You know the saying. “Soccer: It’s America’s next major sport, and always will be.” Except that if you stop by Union Jack’s Old Glory Pub on the day of a big match, you’ll find it packed with fans as you might on any Superbowl Sunday. For these enthusiasts, soccer, or more properly, football, has arrived.

Feature photo above: Andrew Steigelmann, left, owner of Union Jack’s shares a toast to Liverpool with a friend.

On the day I stopped in, the pub’s many screens displayed Liverpool on its way to besting Tottenham by a score of 2-nil. (For the outlier, a baseball game displayed on a smaller screen in the corner.)

The fan can thank the owner of Union Jack’s, Andrew Steigelmann, who established this “beer geek heaven” in North Hills in 1992.

“There was almost nobody doing that back then,” he says with pride. Today, craft beer thankfully is found just about everywhere, but Union Jack’s always seems to have one of the better draft lists.

The classic English-style pub currently features 22 draft options (21 if you exclude the Bud Light, which everyone with functioning taste buds should). Andrew lists beers from around the world, and the list changes often.

I’ve visited Union Jacks many times over the year, and besides the beer selection, the chicken wings score high with me as does the general atmosphere. Andrew describes it as “dive chic”, or a casual, comfortable space that compels perfect strangers into actual conversations. Any night I stopped by to watch a game, that’s what usually happens. This is why I love pubs in general and Union Jack’s in particular.

Union Jack’s Old Glory Pub is located at 2750 Limekiln Pike in Glenside. Their website lists the menu and the rotating list of 22 drafts. Like ’em on Facebook.

And finally, this (because I couldn’t resist):

We love walking the walkable communities, so GlensideLocal will take a stroll and present our readers with the people that give us all these great stores, restaurants, and other small businesses that make Glenside and Jenkintown such attractive places to live, work, and visit.