Nowhere feels quite as much like New York City than Soho. Brooklyn, Queens, and uptown Manhattan are all amazing. But Soho, and by extension downtown Manhattan, is what makes the city The City, which is why we’re so happy to have brought in The Aula Gym to our repertoire of locations for this upcoming winter season.

The Location:

The Aula Gym, located on 268 Mulberry Street, is outfitted for tight, fast-paced, 5v5 games. The court itself is fairly wide, so you don’t have to worry about running into the walls unless you have poor self-control like yours truly.

If you’ve never played indoor of any kind, it’s much more action packed than playing outdoors. There is no position on the field that isn’t active at any one time. So if you’re looking to get (or stay) in shape during the winter, any indoor league is a great way to do so!

Personally, I love playing indoor during the winter (goalie here), because of the fact that there’s way more action, it’s much easier to field a team of 5 than it is to field a team of 8 or 11, and, obviously, I get to be inside. All of which is available for the first time with NYC Footy at The Aula!

The Neighborhood:

I’m going to lead this section off by saying that there is almost no way I will be able to do the neighborhood justice and the treasure trove of bars and restaurants justice. That being said, here are a handful of places that you can start with with your friends after the game.

Up first is Momoya Soho

Momoyo is an absolute stunner of a restaurant, serving exquisite Japanese fare in the perfect location, just across the street from The Aula Gym.

Apart from the staples of sushi, sashimi, and tempura, all of which are incredible, they have a brunch menu so you and your friends can savor some sangria alongside your sashimi right after your game!

If you’re looking to start the weekend off correctly (getting brunch drunk and eating delicious Japanese food at a classy restaurant immediately after your Footy game), this is the place to do it.

Second is Botanica Bar

If you and your team are looking for a dive bar that’s not far, look no further. Botanica Bar is directly across the street from the gym and is one of Mulberry St.’s staples.

Botanica’s has everything you might expect (and want) from your local dive bar: beer and shot combos, great happy hour deals, the good kind of good-bad frozen margaritas (read sweet and boozy), and year-round outdoor seating equipped with heat lamps.

If there’s one drawback to Botanica’s Bar, it’s that the no longer serve food. That being said, they’re incredibly happy for you to bring your own. Whether that’s a zippy filled with goldfish and cheerios, or a pie from Prince Street Pizza just one block away is up to you.

Third and lastly is Sláinte Bar

I would be remiss if I didn’t round out this section with Sláinte Bar, as it’s probably one of the best bars to watch football in the city. Apologies to any long serving patrons for blowing up your spot.

They’ve got football on the TV basically all hours of the day, and you can be sure that come World Cup season this winter, they’ll be serving hordes of fair-weather football fans, myself included, day in and day out.

This being the case, it might behoove you to get in before the crowd and make friends with the staff so that when they’re scanning the hordes of Americans praying for the Welsh to beat the British because we goose-egged against Iran, they’ll recognize your wonderful, smiling face, and serve you that Stella you’ve been waiting for.

Again, this list is just scratching the surface of the bars, restaurants, and everything else available to you in Soho. If you’ve got recommendations of your own that you think should be added to the list, feel free to fire back some ideas at our instagram @nycfootyofficial!

Directions:

Subway: The gym is about two-blocks from the J, Z (Bowery Stop), 6 (Spring St Stop), B,D,F,M (Broadway Lafayette), and the R, W (Prince St. Station), which means if you’re having trouble finding a train to the gym, you’re probably in Jersey.

Bike: The gym is a short distance from the Williamsburg Bridge, which means that it’s both easy to get to from BK, and that there are dozens of CitiBike stations around the gym.

Bus: The M21 runs up and down Houston St. very frequently, so if you find yourself downtown, but way over on the West Side, it’s a very easy trip.

And that’s it. As always, thanks for reading and I hope to see some of you at the Aula very soon!

-James