Popular Rangers bar to move away from 'football pub' reputation to become burger restaurant under new owners

A former Rangers pub in Tradeston is set to be turned into a restaurant, with the new owners planning to move away from being “a football pub”.

Embassy Investments Ltd has plans to convert the “dilapidated”  Lord Nelson bar on Nelson Street.

Glasgow’s Licensing Board heard how the owners intend to invest around £500,000 in the revamp to create a burger restaurant.

Councillors agreed to vary the venue’s premises licence, which included allowing children and removing a requirement to have stewards when football games are played.

Stephen McGowan, the licensing lawyer representing the applicant Usman Bashir, said: “This is a premises that for many years was a traditional public house known as the Lord Nelson, particularly well known as a football pub. 

“My understanding is historically it traded on match days when Rangers were playing at Ibrox.”

He said his client had bought the premises in 2022 with the intention to convert it into a “modern, attractive restaurant premises”.

“There is no desire to reconnect with the matchday demographic,” he added.

Two objections to the licence application were received, but Mr McGowan suggested they were a “rival trader objection”, raising planning issues which are not for the Licensing Board to consider.

Responding to questions from councillors, Mr McGowan said the reason football fans visited the Lord Nelson was “because it was a well established Rangers pub”.

“That’s not going to be the case,” he added. “The Rangers supporters who wish to retire to a watering hole to discuss the ins and outs of the game are not going to be coming to this premises, they will be going to some other premises.”

However, he said if Police Scotland had any “knowledge around a particular game” then his client would be happy to liaise with them.