‘When we show football here, it's a community event’

Ogbonnaya opened the Prince of Peckham in March 2017 previously telling The Morning Advertiser (MA)​ he wanted to create a space where the old and new Peckham could co-exist.​

“I wanted a pub right bang in the middle of all that that just said to everyone there are no borders, this is Peckham,” he told Sky Business as part of new video series, The Pub: Football’s Home.​

“One of the main things I wanted to do was put ‘welcome to Peckham’ on the front of the pub which was pretty much to say the moment you come up to this pub, everyone within this pub it's Peckham - don't care who, what, how, doesn't matter, you walk through the doors you're all treated the same.” 

Ogbonnaya added the idea of creating an inclusive space for his community underpinned the site’s opening almost three-and-a-half years ago. “My whole thing was to create a pub or a boozer that was that was quintessentially British as Britain is made up today, which was welcome and accommodating for every single person every at every layer of the community,” he said.

While the Prince of Peckham counts EFL Championship side Millwall and National League South’s Dulwich Hamlet among its local clubs, Ogbonnaya initially shied away from live screenings.

“I thought that sport could be slightly polarizing so for the first year, we didn't have sports,” he explained, "but then I thought about it, the value of one match in this pub pretty much pays for itself, but most importantly when we show football here it's a community event. 

“Yes, we can show sports but it's not your traditional guys heckling at a screen, it's this inclusive experience. When we play games we know exactly who's going to turn up for what match, our regulars, and it's fantastic and it’s great.

“Just like food brings people together and music brings people together sport here has brought people together. We're very much not a sports pub, we’re the Prince of Peckham, oh by the way you can catch the game here.”

Unique and unrivalled way of bringing people together

Ogbonnaya spoke to Sky Business in the third episode of the broadcaster’s new video series, The Pub: Football’s Home​, which focuses on pub licensees’ preparations for the new football season.

The collection of short films shines a light on the people that make live sport in pubs and bars an unmissable, communal experience.

The Pub: Football’s Home​, was filmed post-lockdown and looks at the key role the licensed trade plays in bringing together local communities and how live sport gives customers the perfect reason to meet up safely and responsibly with friends and family.  

The films profile licensees, front of house staff and customers who come together every match day to enjoy sport. Episode one, filmed at the Wellington in Hale, Liverpool​ – a Marston’s tenanted pub – is available now with more episodes released weekly throughout September.

“Our customers are at the heart of everything we do and our partnership with them is very important to us,” Simon Raggett, managing director of Sky Business said. “The Pub: Football’s Home​ really highlights the role that pubs and clubs play and how sport has a unique and unrivalled way of bringing people together.

“At a time when stadiums are closed, sports fans are looking for the atmosphere and sense of togetherness which is where pubs and clubs come to the fore. 

“With Sky Business, venues can bring their customers the experience we’ve all been missing, including the biggest games from the Premier League, the EFL and so much more.”