A Blackstock Road boozer popular with Arsenal fans for pre-match pints was shut this week – but it will soon reopen under new management.

Gunners fans were reeling when "men who looked life bailiffs" boarded up the pub's doors and windows with metal sheeting on Wednesday.

Tweets claiming the pub was shut for good started spreading like rumours on transfer deadline day.

But a spokesperson for EI Publican Partnerships, also known as Enterprise Inns, which owns the business, said: "We can confirm that The Arsenal Tavern is currently shut. We would like to reassure the local community that we plan to reopen this pub as soon as possible with a new operator."

It is not yet known what type of pub it will reopen as.

Cllr Clare Potter (Lab, Brownswood) said: "Obviously, I would hope the pub would be able to serve the local community in a similar way that it did before."

What are your memories of the Arsenal Tavern? Email Lucas at the Gazette newsdesk on lucas.cumiskey@archant.co.uk