SOCIAL CLIMES : Blimey! That’s <i> Live </i> Soccer on TV

Talk about obsessions. On most weekends at the Cock N Bull, a traditional English pub in Santa Monica, the biggest crowds come at, oh, around 7 or 8 in the morning.

What draws the bleary-eyed is English football (that’s soccer to us Yanks) broadcast live via satellite from the United Kingdom, where it is a reasonable 2 or 3 in the afternoon.

“I heard a rumor there was live soccer on satellite and I looked for it,” says Cock N Bull owner Tony Moogan, a native of Liverpool, England.

“I slept here on my own all night and at 7 a.m. I put the satellite on and I found it. After living here for what was then 10 years, I couldn’t believe it. And it was live, you know?”

Over the last four years, word-of-mouth and finally a few adverts in the local British community newspapers brought in the football-hungry throngs--including a few visiting notables such as Richard Harris, Eric Idle and Virgin megamillionaire Richard Branson.

Many patrons come dressed in football club T-shirts, hats and other accouterments of the hard-core fan.

“We come here to support Manchester United,” says James Rafferty, formerly of Manchester. On this recent morning, his team is facing off with Newcastle United on the giant screen and four video monitors that surround the bar.

Rafferty, who manages a motel and owns a bar in Santa Barbara, says he drives 100 miles, leaving his house at 6 a.m. for Sunday games and at 5 a.m. on Saturdays to make it here by game time.

“What can I tell you? It’s a religion,” he says. “We do anything to support our team.”

To keep their other appetites sated as well, Moogan plies the fans with typical English edibles.

“It’s like a tradition,” he says. “You come in and get your English-type breakfast. That’s bangers; Heinz beans, which we import from England (obviously different from the Heinz beans you get Stateside); Irish bacon, eggs; black pudding, which we import from Ireland, and tomatoes and toast.”

About half the crowd orders up pints of their favorite brews, while the others opt for a more morning-friendly, albeit equally British, cup of tea.

While the Cock N Bull strives to create a simulacrum of the British experience, one thing this audience leaves on the other side of the Atlantic is the violence made famous by British soccer hooligans.

“We’ve had one argument in four years and it was just a verbal thing,” Moogan says.

“The great thing about it is that everybody knows each other.”

This includes not only supporters from different British cities, but also Irishmen, Welshmen and Scotsmen (the crowd is mostly male), a sprinkling of Americans and even Middle-Easterners.

“There are Arabs who come here and support Manchester United and Israelis who support Liverpool,” Moogan says, pointing around his raucous yet peaceable kingdom that could almost serve as a model for international relations.

“Yeah, it’s great.”

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Where: Cock N Bull Pub, 2947 Lincoln Blvd., Santa Monica; (310) 399-9696

When: Saturdays, doors open at 6:30 a.m., game starts at 7; Sundays, doors open at 7:30, game starts at 8.

Cost: Cover, $5. English breakfast, $5.