Admiral - City Centre Slophouse Closing

I worked in an office in Waterloo St fairly recently and was in the Admiral occasionally for a pint,had no idea it had connections to our city rivals.
Great pub,real shame it’s closing and turning into another overpriced cafe.
 
Unclerico27 said:
I still remember confidently uttering “Two pints of heavy” in The Admiral in 1978 as a 14 year old and getting served. Wasn’t quite sure what I was drinking, but I had arrived!

Pretty sure they served any age in those (glorious) days.

[Never a gay bar. I, naively, used to get served in The Muscular Arms at the same time and could never work out where the females were!]
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It was definitely a 'gay bar' around the the late 70's early 80's.

The Muscular Arms I don't remember as being 'gay' at all.
 
Jonathan E said:
It was definitely a 'gay bar' around the the late 70's early 80's.

The Muscular Arms I don't remember as being 'gay' at all.
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Likewise re the Muscular Arms, never a gay bar.

It was a long time ago though so the only caveat to that is that were a few bars over 2 or 3 floors IIRC, so unless one of the upstairs bars was that way inclined (where I never ventured BTW!), I stand by my original comment.
 
blue genes said:
Likewise re the Muscular Arms, never a gay bar.

It was a long time ago though so the only caveat to that is that were a few bars over 2 or 3 floors IIRC, so unless one of the upstairs bars was that way inclined (where I never ventured BTW!), I stand by my original comment.
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My mind and memory must be playing tricks with me - nothing new there! Starting a drinking career at 14 probably hasn’t helped either.
 
TimzRFudz said:
That speccy, fantasist turd who runs Lost Glasgow was having a cry-wank about this the other day. I didn’t appreciate it was a slop-house until this thread as it’s not where I would normally go drinking. All falls into place though…
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hes has a cry about anything closing , its the entire point of the page
 
Worked in the Garage in the late 90s when Dave Ross and his brother (was it his brother?), ran the place. Was filled with filth supporters. Gavin Reed was another.... he was a little wanker along with Ross. Who else was there, Sandro and his brother maybe? Brian McLaughlin (I think) too... all filth fans.
 
I loved The Admiral as a pub and venue for Melting Pot before I moved to Aus. It's a shame it's being replaced by non descriptive new build cafe. Glasgow's heritage is important to maintain regardless of Football allegiances.

Why are they building new office blocks when everyone works from home and so many empty offices?
 
i watched an old firm game about 10 years ago in the downstairs bit, nearly got lynched
 
It's my works go to choice for socials after work due to being so close, never would have thought it was a mank pub if I hadn't read this thread.

Ah well that's the works socials binned for me!!!
 
Thern7 said:
I loved The Admiral as a pub and venue for Melting Pot before I moved to Aus. It's a shame it's being replaced by non descriptive new build cafe. Glasgow's heritage is important to maintain regardless of Football allegiances.

Why are they building new office blocks when everyone works from home and so many empty offices?
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Melting Pot is a cracking night.
 
So a decent, slop house, cheap, expensive, gay bar, just a bar, full of tramps, full of office workers, good food, shit food, good music, shit music, decent club downstairs, what downstairs, would never know it was a mentally challenged pub, full of Provos and terrorists.

Only thing I haven’t seen contradicted is the guy was seemingly a Grade A prick.
 
Timardim said:
Always a mystery why and how these type of premises exist , hidden in plain sight as the saying goes. Is it because they have their placemen in the license trade , are they ever under watch from the Polis , as I'm sure it would be easy enough to spot known undesirables leaving and entering the pub. There must be blatant illegal activity evident in the places , the song sheets of the local bar flies would point to sectarian criminality alone , . and the bands invited to entertain must be notorious for their repertoire.It seems everybody knows what goes on in the place apart from the controlling authorities. I remember someone telling me that if you want a license for a pub in Glasgow you only have to tell the board you'll be hiring Irish Republican bands and promoting rhebel nights on a regular basis, and I thought they were kidding.
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I remember reading something about the guy responsible for overseeing the development of Merchant City. Apparently he's a rebel. Im sure he had plenty to say about our celebrations in George Square when we won title 55.
 
vicbex said:
I remember reading something about the guy responsible for overseeing the development of Merchant City. Apparently he's a rebel. Im sure he had plenty to say about our celebrations in George Square when we won title 55.
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That makes sense as the Merchant City is a no go area now on their matchdays, surprised there hasn't been a string reaction from other businesses, outwith the Irish bars, as the couple of times I've had to pass through the area on the way to a gig the other bars and restaurants are empty.
 
derek145 said:
That makes sense as the Merchant City is a no go area now on their matchdays, surprised there hasn't been a string reaction from other businesses, outwith the Irish bars, as the couple of times I've had to pass through the area on the way to a gig the other bars and restaurants are empty.
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I think the slow closure of filth pubs in the Gallowgate/Barras has seen them move into the Merchant City.
The Barras has the look of a third world country's entertainment zone. Even the road surface is like the surface of the moon. An utterly horrendous part of our city that needs flattened.
 
Cooper_11 said:
I think the slow closure of filth pubs in the Gallowgate/Barras has seen them move into the Merchant City.
The Barras has the look of a third world country's entertainment zone. Even the road surface is like the surface of the moon. An utterly horrendous part of our city that needs flattened.
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The pub Dalglish held his press conference in, next to the Barrowlands, is lovely inside, someone has made an effort to try and regenerate the area but it's not a place I'd go near unless it was for a gig.
 
ibroxbound said:
That wasn't a gay bar but it was full of pretentious pricks
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I can confirm this as 100% accurate - I was one.

When I was 16/17 - so late 70s - I was winching a girl who was a student at the nearby Academy of Music and Drama. The Muscular Arms was our default meeting point.

Absolutely chocka with pretentious wankers out to impress. Wasn't gay per se but would be described as LGBT Friendly nowadays.
 
Jonathan E said:
It was definitely a 'gay bar' around the the late 70's early 80's.

The Muscular Arms I don't remember as being 'gay' at all.
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Muscular Arms was definitely a gay bar at that time. Admiral wasn't. May have had the odd event down in the basement but the pub itself was never a gay bar.
 
SimonLeBon said:
Muscular Arms was definitely a gay bar at that time. Admiral wasn't. May have had the odd event down in the basement but the pub itself was never a gay bar.
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I might be confusing the Admiral (Waterloo St) with the Waterloo Bar, but I think you are mistaken about The Muscular Arms. (Might sound gay, but...)
 
Unclerico27 said:
I still remember confidently uttering “Two pints of heavy” in The Admiral in 1978 as a 14 year old and getting served. Wasn’t quite sure what I was drinking, but I had arrived!

Pretty sure they served any age in those (glorious) days.

[Never a gay bar. I, naively, used to get served in The Muscular Arms at the same time and could never work out where the females were!]
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The females were entwined in my muscular arms;):))
 
tazzabear said:
Used to be one of ours!
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Remember Zhivago s pub Ingram street
A great pub especially Saturday night as few Rangers player visited it and certain Rangers player/ Idol brother worked behind bar
Plenty of Rangers fans went there and bouncer on door use to follow Gers
met him at bovistia v Rangers game
Talent was not bad either lol
 
Carson's Cat said:
I can confirm this as 100% accurate - I was one.

When I was 16/17 - so late 70s - I was winching a girl who was a student at the nearby Academy of Music and Drama. The Muscular Arms was our default meeting point.

Absolutely chocka with pretentious wankers out to impress. Wasn't gay per se but would be described as LGBT Friendly nowadays.
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The Muscular Arms was a regular haunt of ours round about the late 70s/early 80s, and if it was a gay bar we would have steered well clear.
What it did have was an abundance of what were called at the time ”posers”, guys with wedge haircuts, baggy shirts, high waisted trousers and pointed shoes. The burds looked like they were auditioning to sing backup for Phil Oakey in the Human League.
 
Clicker said:
The Muscular Arms was a regular haunt of ours round about the late 70s/early 80s, and if it was a gay bar we would have steered well clear.
What it did have was an abundance of what were called at the time ”posers”, guys with wedge haircuts, baggy shirts, high waisted trousers and pointed shoes. The burds looked like they were auditioning to sing backup for Phil Oakey in the Human League.
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Real style you mean.
 
Clicker said:
The Muscular Arms was a regular haunt of ours round about the late 70s/early 80s, and if it was a gay bar we would have steered well clear.
What it did have was an abundance of what were called at the time ”posers”, guys with wedge haircuts, baggy shirts, high waisted trousers and pointed shoes. The burds looked like they were auditioning to sing backup for Phil Oakey in the Human League.
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That's exactly as it was,then they moved on to City Limits...
 
Used to be decent Northern Soul nights in there in the early 90s.

I've since had a couple of semi-light-hearted run-ins with the current owner. A couple of my mates know him through Scooter Clubs but hes all mentally challenged.
 
Carson's Cat said:
I can confirm this as 100% accurate - I was one.

When I was 16/17 - so late 70s - I was winching a girl who was a student at the nearby Academy of Music and Drama. The Muscular Arms was our default meeting point.

Absolutely chocka with pretentious wankers out to impress. Wasn't gay per se but would be described as LGBT Friendly nowadays.
Click to expand...

Was that the pub at Nelson Mandela Place. ?
 
prsoandnovo222 said:
It doesn't need to have tricolours and photos of Henrik larsson hanging up for it to be a celtic pub.Its even listed as a celtic pub on there equivalent of rangers pubs on the Internet.
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They had a night called 'Hoops in the Hold' - basically a rebel night in the basement.
 
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