17/08/2026
We had a decent crowd in at Danny’s on Soi Buakhao for Sunday night’s FA Community Shield game between Arsenal and Man City.
But as I said to one of my friends, if those two were meeting in a Premier League game, the bar would be full.
Part of the reason is that many still view the Community Shield as a glorified friendly (and after Arsenal’s convincing 3-0 win, City supporters will hope their team was treating it that way). But it’s also that the Premier League currently dominates world sports attention like no other league in any sport.
The NFL is king in America and has made inroads in other countries. The AFL and NRL are huge in Australia.
The Premier League is huge worldwide.
So the return of the Premier League this coming weekend, with the start of the 2026/27 season, is great news not just for us but for sports bars and sports fans everywhere.
The first game is Friday night, Arsenal vs. Coventry in a 2 a.m. Thai time kickoff. There are five games Saturday, starting with Hull City vs. Man United at 6:30 p.m. and finishing up with Brentford vs. Spurs at 11:30. Then three games Sunday, including Newcastle-Liverpool at 10:30. The final game of the long weekend is Fulham-Chelsea, Monday night at 2 a.m.
Arsenal’s title last season was their first in 22 years, but they’ll begin as clear favorites to repeat this season. City, Liverpool and Chelsea all have new managers, and while Man United finished impressively under Michael Carrick last spring, they face playing as many as 50 percent more games than they did a year ago, as they re-enter the UEFA Champions League.
Even so, 38 games makes for a very long season, which won’t end until 30 May 2027. So much will happen between now and then, with injuries, surprise players and teams and even potentially a few more big transfers.
As always, we’ll be showing every game live at Danny’s, and also at our new bar, Danny’s@Pattaya, down the block on Soi Buakhao. The new bar won’t be open this weekend, but will go into soft opening on Thursday, 27 August, with free food available that night.
The following night, Friday 28 August, the second week of Premier League play begins with Crystal Palace vs. Man City at 2 a.m. That game will be live in both our bars.
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This would be a big week at Danny’s on Soi Buakhao, even without the Premier League starting up. This Thursday, we have our big birthday party for Sorn, my stepdaughter and one of the most important members of our Danny’s Sports Bar team.
The theme for the party is traditional Thai, and I’ve been asked to wear a Songkran shirt that night. You’re all welcome to wear one, too, although we’ll be happy to see you, no matter how you’re dressed.
We’ll have all our regular free food, along with live music.
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The All Blacks have looked good through the opening games of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour, but the real challenge starts Saturday night when they face the Springboks in the first test. Kickoff is 10:05 p.m. Thai time, and we will be showing the game.
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It’s the final week of the regular home-and-away season in the AFL. Fremantle have already won the minor premiership and the Sydney Swans will finish second, but it’s an important weekend for Brisbane, Hawthorn and Melbourne, two of which will finish in the top four and game the double jeopardy advantage. It’s also important for Geelong and Adelaide, one of which will avoid the wild card weekend.
Collingwood, locked into a wild card game, host Brisbane Friday at 4:40. Melbourne play the Bulldogs (also a wild card team) Saturday at 1:15, followed by Geelong-Richmond at 4:45 and Adelaide-GWS at 5:10. Hawthorn finish off the weekend with a 4:20 p.m. game Sunday at West Coast.
The first-ever Wildcard Finals will be played the following weekend, with the Qualifying and Elimination Finals the weekend after that.
Three weeks still to play in the NRL home-and-away season. The biggest game this weekend is Saturday at 2:30, the Rabbitohs trying to hold onto their spot in the Finals against the Warriors, who still have a chance at the minor premiership.
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There’s more test cricket this week, including England vs. Pakistan beginning Thursday at 5 p.m. Australia, after a shocking loss to Bangladesh in their first test, will try to recover in the second test starting Saturday. We’ll have the final session of play of that test beginning when we open at 12 noon.
There’s also Sri Lanka vs. India, with Day 3 of their first test starting up right about the time we open today at noon.
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Formula 1 returns from its midsummer break this weekend with the Dutch Grand Prix. It’s a sprint weekend, so we’ll have the sprint race Saturday at 5 p.m. and the Grand Prix Sunday at 8. We had five different winners in the five races before the break, which is more different winners than we had in all of last season.
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It’s the second week of the NFL preseason, and we’ll have four live games Saturday night, beginning with the Commanders and Lions at 11 p.m.
