Inside George Best’s former pub the place landlord’s subject has punters asking ‘is that it?’

There is a pub in Manchester city centre named The Circus Tavern which has been dubbed Europe’s smallest boozer – an establishment where George Best used to drink at

A pub in Manchester that hosted footballing star George Best has been dubbed “Europe’s smallest”.

For Barry Hayes, owner of The Circus Tavern in Manchester city centre, his main issue is banging his head on the bar, which itself is only three feet in length. Hayes has manned the boozer for fifteen years and says its the only establishment in the country where it is acceptable to queue single file for a pint, out of necessity.

The towering 6ft 5in landlord said: “Officially, you can fit around 45 people in the pub if they are all sat down. But around 70 people can fit inside if they are stood up talking.”

According to Hayes, the first thing people say when they arrive at the miniature watering hole is: “Is this it?” Outside the bar is a sign that says: “The smallest bar in Europe, the biggest welcome in the world.”

Hayes took over the lease for the pub, which was built in the eighteenth century, in 2010: “The person who had the pub put an advertisement in the local paper,” he said. “We made a business plan and that was it.”

The pub still makes room for a shrine to Manchester United legend George Best, who liked to stand in a particular corner when chinning tins.

The Circus Tavern is certainly a good place for Gen Z drinkers who reportedly have an obsession with queuing up to get a drink, a bizarre craze this publication addressed last year.

There’s even a social media page called Pub Queues that is trying to stop the trend of lining up for a pint.

The campaign say they want to “end the recent phenomenon of queuing single file in pubs.” They think bars should be used how they were intended – to spread across.

It urged establishments to put up signs discouraging drinkers from forming single-file lines. One suggestion read: “Please stop queuing in a line. Come to the bar”, while another sign stated: “If there is a single file queue in front of you, walk straight past it and go to the bar”.

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