Arlington’s Ireland’s Four Courts awarded America’s Best Soccer Bar

Arlington’s Ireland’s Four Courts awarded America’s Best Soccer Bar.mp4

A sea of jersey-clad people poured inside a dark green building sitting in the center of Arlington, Virginia, one Saturday afternoon.

The pub, Ireland’s Four Courts, was filled with so many patrons watching the same soccer match — Manchester United vs. Chelsea of the English Premier League, that its patio windows were left wide-open for easy viewing.

When Manchester United’s Matheus Cunha scored moments before halftime, those wearing red or white shirts belted out cheers of joy, while the rest sat in tension. For the rest of the match, as Chelsea attempted shots on goal, those wearing blue jerseys groaned in misery until the referee blew the final whistle.

“We like to create it like a stadium,” David Cahill, Four Courts’ managing partner, said about the pub’s atmosphere. “When you come into the Four Courts to watch soccer, if you’re not at the stadium, the Four Courts is gonna be your next best spot to be at.”

Ireland’s Four Courts became known for showing soccer matches as early as 7 a.m. on a Saturday. Recently, the Arlington restaurant was named America’s Best Soccer Bar. For Cahill, the recognition is the culmination of building its soccer community and of rebuilding the bar after a car crashed into it in 2022.

America’s soccer bar

Last year, Ireland’s Four Courts made the top 100 soccer bars in the annual contest. By November, it landed in the top 10. After voting took place, Cahill was alerted in March that the pub had won the 2025-26 edition of the contest, but needed to hear it from three different people before celebrating.

“We were totally shocked,” Cahill said. “We were absolutely thrilled.”

Organized by the soccer media company Men in Blazers, Ireland’s Four Courts hosted a special live podcast show featuring former U.S. men’s national team star Clint Dempsey and presented Cahill with a special plaque commemorating the award.

Cahill describes Four Courts as a neighborhood Irish restaurant that features staple dishes, such as fish and chips and shepherd’s pie, along with beer and traditional American bar food. In the 2000s, as it became involved with local soccer organizations, Cahill said a decision was made to prioritize showing soccer games.

“What we found was when we’re going to other restaurants that soccer was an afterthought in the early 2000s still, and people didn’t have it in bars,” Cahill said. “If there was a basketball game or a hockey match on, they take priority over soccer.”

The bar lined its schedule with England’s top league, opening at 7 a.m., attracting area soccer fans. It also shows games from other top European leagues, the region’s MLS club D.C. United, and the U.S. men’s national team. A line of people will start to form around noon before marquee matches in the English Premier League are set to begin.

Cahill said it tries to cater to everyone, so if there is a request, “if we can play that game, we will play it, and we will always try to play it with sound.”

Allison Kasic, the co-chapter head of the Beltway Blues supporters group, told WTOP before Four Courts that it was hard to find a bar willing to show early morning Chelsea matches. Now, her group, along with seven others, calls the Arlington pub home, a dynamic that Kasic says she prefers for the open banter among fans.

“Four Courts is a really special place,” Kasic said. “It’s the staff, it’s the people that come here. It really feels like a community. We all know each other. (It) kind of feels like you’re coming home each weekend to see your friends.”

‘More than a soccer bar’

On Aug. 12, 2022, a ride-share driver suffered a medical emergency while driving on Wilson Boulevard, crashing his vehicle into the restaurant. The car then caught fire, further damaging the building. At least 15 people were hurt in the incident.

Rebuilding would take over a year, Cahill said, and the bar posted a GoFundMe to support the recovery. During that time, the neighborhood hosted several fundraisers, while the soccer fans who call the pub home came together to sell a special Four Courts scarf to support the cause.

“It’s hard to get football fans to coordinate on a lot of stuff because we all hate each other’s teams, but we came together,” Kasic said. “We did a lot of joint fundraisers, primarily making sure the staff was taken care of while they couldn’t work here.”

“During that time, we really learned that the Four Courts was more than a neighborhood pub, more than a soccer bar, it was a community,” Cahill said. “For us, that gesture kind of pushed us along and made sure that we could reopen.”

Four Courts reopened in September of 2023, with three plaques in its foyer paying tribute to the police, firefighters and customers who rushed to help the injured after the crash. That same week, it returned to hosting its slate of English Premier League matches.

“After the accident, we’re looking for bars to go to,” Chelsea fan Noah Krach, of Arlington, said. “The entire time, it felt like we were away from home, so I was glad once we got back here. It felt like we returned home.”

The recognition as America’s Best Soccer Bar doesn’t happen without the love and support from its Arlington community and the soccer fans that visit every weekend, Cahill said.

“The award for us, the recognition, really belongs to the supporters clubs, because for all their support and every encouragement they give us during that time, and they give us every week,” Cahill said. “The award is really for them.”