Key Points
- Arsenal FC and venue operations firm Legends Global have launched a new food and beverage initiative titled ‘1886 by Arsenal’ at the Emirates Stadium.
- The concept pays homage to the year the club was founded and features redesigned retail menus, increased speed-of-service technology, and a focus on North London suppliers.
- Local Islington-based businesses—including Cobble Lane Cured, Willy’s Pies, and an artisan family business producing Lesley’s jerk sauce—have been integrated into the stadium’s menu offer.
- Menu additions include a bespoke three-cut British beef burger, chicken brined in-house for 48 hours, and chips available as a standalone side across the Lower Tier General Admission Concourse for the first time since the stadium opened.
- Service enhancements include expanded self-pour beer facilities, friction-free ‘tap-in’ technology across select concessions, and newly designed youth meal deals.
Islington (North London News) August 20, 2026 – Arsenal Football Club, in partnership with venue experiences company Legends Global, has officially launched ‘1886 by Arsenal’, a revamped retail food and beverage framework introduced across the Emirates Stadium to elevate the matchday experience for supporters.
Named in honour of the year the North London club was established, the operational overhaul introduces entirely restructured retail menus, updated kitchen equipment, and a deliberate strategy to source produce from local North London businesses. Additionally, the initiative integrates new operational technology aimed at drastically reducing queue times and enhancing throughput across the stadium’s concourses.
What Are the Key Menu Changes Introduced at Emirates Stadium?
The culinary redesign centers heavily on bespoke recipes and partnerships with local producers, particularly those operating within the Borough of Islington and surrounding community networks.
Among the core menu items is a signature Arsenal beef burger, developed in direct collaboration with the club’s designated butcher, which blends three distinct cuts of British-farmed beef: chuck, brisket, and rib. The chicken offerings feature poultry brined in-house for 48 hours before being coated in a custom blend of herbs and spices.
The stadium’s chicken burger is paired with Lesley’s jerk sauce, created by a family-run artisan firm located in Islington.
Further local sourcing is highlighted by the inclusion of hot dogs made using sausages from Islington butcher Cobble Lane, crafted with 92% British pork. Savoury baked goods from Willy’s Pies have also been formally integrated into the matchday retail selection.
For general admission spectators, operational shifts include the introduction of chips as a standalone side option across the Lower Tier concourse—marking the first time the item has been systematically offered in this capacity since the venue opened in 2006. Tailored meal deals aimed at younger fans have also been incorporated into the matchday framework.
How Is Technology Being Used to Reduce Matchday Queues?
To address concourse congestion and speed up service rates during peak matchday windows, Legends Global has implemented several infrastructural and technological upgrades across the venue.
Self-pour beer stations have been expanded throughout the concourses to allow supporters to service drinks quickly without waiting for traditional draft pours at primary counter positions.
Furthermore, two distinct concession locations have been upgraded with frictionless ‘tap-in’ payment and entry technology, allowing fans to select items and complete transactions without manual checkout delays.
Commentating on the strategic launch, Steve Cooper, Senior Vice President of Food and Beverage at Legends Global, detailed the rationale behind the operational transition:
“Food and drink have always been a part of the ritual of matchday, meeting friends and family, arriving at the stadium and building up to kick-off. So, in our first season at Arsenal, we wanted to look at that experience and ask how we could make it genuinely better. That’s meant investing in equipment to elevate the experience and rethinking every detail, from the menus and ingredients to local partnerships and how quickly supporters can get served.”
Cooper further noted that the initiative is intended to serve as a long-term framework for venue operations:
“1886 by Arsenal is the result, an experience rooted in North London, built around Arsenal supporters and with the ambition to set a new benchmark for food and drink in Premier League football. This is the start of an exciting new chapter at Emirates Stadium, and we’ll keep innovating and evolving the experience.”
Explore More Arsenal FC News
Arsenal Close in on Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa Transfer — London 2026
Arsenal Given Cut-Price Rafael Leao Ultimatum in London 2026
What Is the Background to the Legends Global Partnership?
The introduction of ‘1886 by Arsenal’ marks a major operational deployment in the ongoing relationship between Arsenal Football Club and Legends Global, a premium experiences company specialising in stadium operations, hospitality, retail, and venue management.
Historically, stadium catering across major UK sports venues relied on standardized, large-scale third-party concessionaires offering uniform fast-food options.
In recent years, Premier League venues have systematically shifted toward premiumised, locally themed food offers to increase fan engagement, lengthen matchday dwell time, and maximize commercial revenue per supporter.
Legends Global has been aggressively expanding its presence within British sports infrastructure. The deployment at Arsenal follows similar large-scale operational contracts undertaken by the firm across European and North American sports markets.
A prominent direct comparison within UK venue management includes Legends Global’s 10-year partnership with Coventry City at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
Backed by a reported £15 million investment, that agreement saw Legends Global take total operational responsibility for food and beverage, premium hospitality, and wider venue programming to drive long-term commercial modernization. The rollout of ‘1886 by Arsenal’ represents a similar strategy tailored to a elite-tier Premier League venue.
How Will This Development Affect Arsenal Supporters and the Local Economy?
The implementation of ‘1886 by Arsenal’ is expected to impact three main stakeholder groups: matchday supporters, local Islington businesses, and the broader Premier League venue sector.
- Matchday Supporters: Fans attending fixtures at Emirates Stadium will experience reduced wait times during half-time and pre-match windows due to frictionless checkout systems and self-pour automated draft stations. The expansion of varied food options—such as general admission chips and dedicated junior meal deals—caters directly to diverse demographic needs, improving overall customer satisfaction within the concourses.
- Local North London Businesses: Small-to-medium enterprises within Islington, including specialized butchers, bakers, and family-run sauce producers, secure sustained, high-volume commercial contracts. Integrating local vendors into a 60,000-capacity venue offers these suppliers guaranteed exposure and revenue linked directly to Arsenal’s domestic and European match schedule.
- Venue Management Sector: The emphasis on local sourcing paired with automated retail technology sets an operational benchmark for rival clubs. If the integration successfully balances high-throughput speeds with premiumized artisanal food, it will likely accelerate similar dual-technology and hyper-local catering models across major stadia worldwide.
