Red Lion is the football pub in Vienna's Landstrasse, a tight, dark-wood room on Löwengasse where the schedule bends entirely to the fixture list and the door takes only cash.
The address is Löwengasse 6, in the Weissgerber pocket of the third district, a short walk from the Rochusgasse U-Bahn. The room reads as a proper British pub rather than a hotel sports lounge, with timber panelling, a long bar and ten screens worked into the walls so a standing crowd can see the game from any corner. The pub broadcasts Champions League, Europa League, Premier League, German Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and the Austrian Bundesliga, a spread the venue lists on its own site (redlion-vienna.at).
What sets the room apart is its honesty about what it is. The opening hours move with the football, listed as 18:00 on weekdays and 12:30 at weekends but, as the bar warns, set "depending on live games on TV." Fussballgucken.info flags the same point and advises a quick check half an hour before kickoff. This is a pub built around the match, not a kitchen with a screen bolted on.
The fit-out favours atmosphere over polish. Lighting stays low, the walls carry scarves and football print, and the seating is the kind of close-packed bench-and-stool arrangement that fills shoulder to shoulder on a derby night. Regulars on Tripadvisor return to the same notes: a genuine football crowd, fair prices and a landlord who knows the regulars by name. Anyone working through the best sports bars in Vienna should mark this as the purist's option.
What to order: this is a pint house first, so a draught beer is the move, and the bar keeps the focus on football rather than a long menu. Two details shape the visit. The door is cash only, with no cards accepted, and tables can be held only by SMS to the listed mobile number, so arrive with notes in your pocket for a marquee fixture.
The crowd is local and football-literate, weighted toward Premier League and Champions League nights when the room reaches its loudest. It draws fewer tourists than the Ringstrasse venues, which is part of the appeal for anyone after the real supporters-pub register rather than a hotel bar.
Who it is for: football fans who want the game with a committed crowd, drinkers happy with a pint over a cocktail list, and visitors curious about how Vienna watches the match away from the centre. It is a weaker fit for groups after food with the game or anyone expecting card payment. For a bigger, multi-sport room, Champions on the Ringstrasse runs the giant screens, while Pointers in Wieden is the Sky Sports house.
Best time to go: arrive 30 minutes before kickoff on a Champions League or Premier League night to claim a spot at the bar, and message ahead if you want a table for a big fixture. Weekend afternoons open from 12:30 for the early kickoffs, which suits a relaxed lunchtime game. Our guide to the best bars for watching the game sets the wider scene, and the Vienna city guide covers the districts around it.
What regulars flag, in review after review on Tripadvisor, is the landlord and the price of a pint, the two things a football pub lives or dies by. The room is small, so a sold-out Champions League night fills fast and standing becomes the norm rather than the exception. The third district sits just outside the tourist core, which keeps the crowd local and the feel closer to a London boozer than a Ringstrasse lounge.
Sources
Red Lion official site · fussballgucken.info: Wien · Tripadvisor: Red Lion Pub
