Nightclub Snobs set for another city centre move

A legendary Birmingham nightclub is on the move again.

Long-running indie club Snobs is moving down the road from its current Broad Street premises, joining sister bar Eimear's Irish Pub.

The club has had a number of homes since it first opened in 1972. It relocated to its current site in March 2024 after plans to demolish the Ringway Centre to make way for flats were announced.

Wayne Tracey, who bought the nightclub in 2002, said that there was a threat of redevelopment at the existing nightclub, "The stress of redevelopment again... I couldn't take the risk of trying to find another venue," he said.

It will be the club's fourth move in its 54-year history, having been forced to leave its original home, opposite Paradise Circus, in 2014, to make way for a hotel and apartments.

A decade later the nightclub had to relocate to the former Velvet Music Rooms at Broad Street.

Its new location will take over three rooms over two floors in the old Players Bar. The new design will have elements of the old one, with club goers entering at street level, downstairs past the famous wall of faces into the main room.

"The last time that we had to move from Smallwood Queensway, Snobs was very close to closing down altogether because I couldn't find anywhere to house anywhere of that size."

Wayne noted that the "heyday" of the club was during its time at Paradise Circus, and he aims to capture that spirit in the new location.

"The original Snobs [at] Paradise Circus, that's where my heart is."

"I've done it every time that I've moved. I've tried to reproduce what everybody loves about Snobs, and yeah, I'll be bringing everything possible I can to make it feel like home again."

Snobs was opened in by the Berrow brothers in the 70s and gained a reputation as an indie venue, hosting the city's longest-running student night Big Wednesday.

The venue has captured the hearts of those who have passed through its doors with many people meeting their partners there.

During the Coronavirus pandemic Jordan Hooper, Jaymz Goodman and Elijah Woakes missed it so much they were inspired to recreate it in Minecraft.

Tom Cullen from the magazine I Choose Birmingham dubbed the club as "the best nightclub in the UK's history."

He described the original Snobs from 30 years ago as a "hot, foggy, sticky" venue which had prioritised fun over strict musical genres.

"Manchester had the hacienda, the birthplace of music in the 90s. We had snobs, the birthplace of fun in the 90s," he said.

The opening night of the new venue will be 17 September.

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