Pensioner, 76, turned away from bar for being ‘too old’

Jimmy Nsubuga
Updated ·3 min read
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Anthony Severs, 76, claims he was turned away from a bar in Liverpool for being
Anthony Severs, 76, claims he was turned away from a bar in Liverpool for being "too old". (Reach)

A pensioner who claimed he was refused entry to a bar for being "too old" has received an apology.

Anthony Severs, 76, said a female bouncer turned him away from McCooley's, in Liverpool city centre, on 25 July.

The grandfather, from Vauxhall, in Liverpool, said he walked up to the venue at around 10pm to get a pint and shelter from the rain.

He said he was left "shell shocked" when he wasn't allowed to enter the Irish bar on Mathew Street.

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Liverpool, England, United Kingdom; 10/15/2018: Mathew Street with the signal of a lot of pubs
Mathew Street in Liverpool city centre. (Getty)

A spokesperson for McCooley's said there appeared to have been miscommunication on the night but insisted age was not a factor.

It added the bouncer who is said to have rejected him no longer worked there but the head of security had apologised.

Retired shipbuilder Anthony said he had not experienced anything like it in his near-60 years of drinking in Liverpool city centre.

He said: " I’d just come out of The Grapes - it was raining and I’d been soaked. I don’t live far from town and without the buses (due to the ongoing Arriva strike ), I was walking home.

"But because it was raining, I thought I'd go into McCooley's just to dry off and have a drink. I got up the stairs to go in, but a bouncer said I couldn’t come in. I asked why and she said I was too old.

"I said ‘that’s discrimination’. She then said nothing. I just walked away, I was shell-shocked."

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Perhaps Liverpool's most famous street situated in the Cavern Quarter at the heart of the city. It is also home to the Cavern Club where The Beatles played in their early career
Matthew street is situated in the Cavern Quarter at the heart of the city. (Getty)

Anthony continued: "How would it make you feel? It was only when I walked away that it hit me. I thought ‘hang on - too old?’.

"I was shocked, I’ve been drinking around town for 60-odd years and nothing like this has ever happened before. People might laugh - being told you're too old - it's not on."

Anthony spoke to his daughter after the incident and she told him to complain to McCooley's.

Anthony said the bar told him to contact the security firm that provided the bouncer after asking for a personal apology as “it wasn’t down to them”.

McCooley's said in a statement: “Most of our customers, especially midweek are older. He's certainly allowed back at anytime.

“The security person who he wanted the personal apology from no longer works here unfortunately, but he has received an apology from the head of the door firm responsible for employing her in person.

“If he wants to come back we'll certainly make sure he's looked after.”