The original pub was known as the Hope & Anchor and dated from around 1880. It was however bombed in December1940 during an air raid, and destroyed.
The current building was errected in the early 1950s as a replacement. There is however a touch of irony here. On the same night that the Hope & Anchor was destroyed so was Tomlinson's Anchor Brewery on Cherry Street. In order to maintain beer supplies to their tied estate, the company merged with Hope Brewery to form Hope & Anchor Brewery.
The last thing that Wards wanted was a new pub named after someone elses brewery, and so the new pub was named the Sportsman. The pub closed several years ago and has since re-opened as the Bar Indigo.