The Toffee Club, Portland’s premier soccer bar, becomes latest COVID-19 closure

The Toffee Club opened in 2016 at 1006 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd.

The Toffee Club opened in 2016 at 1006 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd.Stephanie Yao Long | The Oregonian

The Toffee Club, a Southeast Portland bar known for its meat pies, English ales and for airing soccer on several large screens, will call it quits after service on Sunday, Aug. 23, the day of the Champions League final, the pub announced on Instagram this week.

“This has been the most difficult decision we’ve ever had to make,” read the post. “But the Toffee Club relies on us filling our space with a lot of happy, cheering fans and that currently just isn’t possible.”

Originally opened in the former Hawthorne Strip club space, The Toffee Club was named for the sweets sold in and around Goodison Park, the Liverpool home of Everton Football Club. That’s the team Toffee Club owner and Nike design director Pete Hoppins supported growing up in England; Hoppins opened the bar with brother Jack and wife Niki Diamond in 2016.

The Oregonian named The Toffee Club Portland’s best new soccer bar that same year, noting the beer selection, which includes Fuller’s London Pride, Old Speckled Hen and a handful of local craft beers as well as the pub food, including the French fry sandwiches known as chip butties as well as steak and ale pies.

I caught a handful of premier league and World Cup games there over the years, often with my Liverpool F.C.-supporting friend Pete, pint in hand. But my favorite Toffee Club memory was standing on the sidewalk outside the standing-room-only bar with my dad, peering past the glare to watch Portugal pull off the 2016 Euro Cup final, even after losing Cristiano Ronaldo to a knee injury early in the match. It was a fun game, and just the kind of crowded bar environment that might keep Anthony Fauci up at night.

Could there be a future for The Toffee Club on the other side of the pandemic? “We truly hope this isn’t forever,” reads the Instagram post, which was first spotted Tuesday by Eater PDX. Meanwhile, Away Days Brewing, the associated brewery next door, plans to stay open with beer available to-go and for delivery, and hopes to reopen its taproom soon. For now, soccer fans can head just up Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard to Gol, the new bar and Peruvian restaurant that took over the former 4-4-2 last year.

-- Michael Russell, mrussell@oregonian.com, @tdmrussell

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