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\t\tThe City of London’s Square Mile needs a major sports venue of its own\t<\/p>\n\t\t\tTuesday 18 August 2026 5:00 am
\n\t\t\t\t\t\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Updated:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\tMonday 17 August 2026 4:30 pm\n\t<\/p>\n
\t\tThe City of London’s Square Mile needs a major sports venue of its own\t<\/p>\n
As sport ramps up after a summer break, Simon Hunt argues that the Square Mile needs its own major sports venue \u2013 for the sake of the City of London\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
Picture the scene: it\u2019s just hit 5:30pm on a sunny Thursday evening in the office. You and your colleagues look around for something to do. What are the options?<\/p>\n
For hacks at City AM the options are: the Oyster Shed, the Banker or the Walrus. In the Square Mile, it\u2019s the pub or home. Little else is on offer.<\/p>\n
As it happens, going to a British pub is one of my favourite pastimes, so I\u2019m not complaining. I prefer a lukewarm Kentish bitter over a Spanish lager even in 32-degree heat, such is my devotion to the cause. But even a watering hole hobbyist like me occasionally craves something different.<\/p>\n
Granted, there are one or two alternatives around the City, such as those used for that dreaded phrase \u2018team building activities<\/a>\u2019 like interactive darts or karaoke. But they are, at best, an acquired taste.<\/p>\n What the City could really do with is a proper sports venue \u2013 something to put the Square Mile on the sporting map that could bring together thousands of office workers all under one roof.\u00a0<\/p>\n London\u2019s sport offering has a missing gem<\/p>\n London itself has no shortage of them: There\u2019s Wembley, Wimbledon, Twickenham, the Olympic village and of course, six Premier League clubs.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n \t\t\tLondon Sports Festival moves from 3\u00d73 basketball success to pickleball at the City of London Corporation\u2019s Guildhall Yard<\/a><\/p>\n But set foot inside the City\u2019s walls and\u2026nothing. The nearest stadium to the Square Mile? Millwall\u2019s The Den, hardly London\u2019s best advert for sport, and at over two miles away, hardly walkable in any case.<\/p>\n It was not always this way. Centuries ago there was a flurry of sports and entertainment activity within the City\u2019s thick stone walls. Jousting was among the most popular, along with horse racing and tennis. Go back a thousand years and gladiatorial sport was in vogue, often taking place at the amphitheatre, traces of which can still be seen under the Guildhall<\/a>.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not calling for the return of jousting, gladiator death matches or even beheadings, a popular spectator sport of yesteryear. But, can\u2019t we have something? The City is a dense place as it is \u2013 but we can dig below ground if office space occupies the skies.<\/p>\n The foundations are there<\/p>\n We already have plenty of infrastructure to support a big venue: huge rail stations in the form of Liverpool Street, Cannon Street and London Bridge as well as six tube lines. And dozens plenty of restaurants and hotels too.\u00a0<\/p>\n There\u2019s plenty of space given over for conference venues, at which men in grey suits exchange leaflets and discuss the exciting collaboration opportunity they\u2019ll never get round to. Wouldn\u2019t everyone just have a much better time if those talks happened while looking at top quality athletes, rather than looking at their watches?\u00a0<\/p>\n Rival financial districts have more on offer. In La Defense, the financial district of Paris, is situated the Penitude Arena, the largest indoor multi-purpose arena in Europe. The 45,000-capacity venue hosted events during the 2024 Olympics and aside from holding rugby games, will also host Celine Dion gigs in September.<\/p>\n The City of London is in danger of falling behind. It\u2019s time to catch up and build a stadium in the Square Mile.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n