When UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham embarked on his trip to the United Nations in New York, he might not have been expecting a question about football fans drinking alcohol in grounds. Burnham firmly believes the law that prevents supporters from having a beer at their seat during a match is outdated. It’s a position the Everton supporter has long held, and when asked was happy to reaffirm. “I do believe there is a case to remove that discrimination,” said Burnham, who feels football fans are singled out compared to those of other sports and events.
There is no suggestion this is about to become official government policy, and last year MPs rejected a Conservative amendment to the Football Governance Bill that would have forced ministers to launch a formal consultation on scrapping the rule. That was, of course, before Burnham returned to Downing Street. It is a complicated and divisive issue, about not just safety. But it it something that match-going supporters actually want?
Drinking alcohol at football grounds in England and Wales has been strictly controlled since the Sporting Events Control of Alcohol Act was introduced in 1985. It was brought in to counter escalating hooliganism through the 1970s and into the 1980s. The ban impacts clubs in the Premier League down to the National League. While beer can be sold, it must be consumed in areas that do not have a view of the pitch.
Yet fans who support teams in the National League North and South and below can drink alcohol around the pitch. The ban is more strict in Scotland, with a law in place since 1981 that alcohol is only available in hospitality areas and not for other fans. It was initially imposed following a riot during the 1980 Scottish Cup final between Rangers and Celtic at Hampden. However, attitudes have been changing in recent seasons.
It was lifted as part of a pilot scheme last year, with several Scottish clubs selling alcohol in clearly defined, monitored areas of the stadiums. It started with lower-level clubs, eventually being extended to the Premiership. The Scotland national team joined the trial for the friendlies against Japan and Curacao earlier this year. It has been extended to games against Switzerland on 29 September and Slovenia next month.
The Women’s Super League in England has just completed two seasons of successful trials and the rule preventing drinking in the stands has now been removed by the league’s governing company, WSL Football. The women’s game is not governed by the Sporting Events Control of Alcohol Act, enabling the competition organiser to make the change. Is there support for the move within English football’s corridors of power? Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said in August the competition had not “got a specific view” and “we’d need to give it some really careful thought”.
The English Football League, however, issued a statement on Thursday that said it would be “receptive to discussions around reviewing the current legislation”. It added member clubs had already provided “a mandate to lobby for appropriate reform” which had “not kept pace with significant developments in stadium management, safety and stewarding”. The Football Supporters’ Association has for some time backed changing the law. Like the prime minister, it considers it to be unfair on football fans.
“I think it is outdated,” FSA chairman Tom Greatrex told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme. “If you go to watch football in Germany or in other places around the world, then it’s perfectly acceptable. “It is civilised and appropriate. There’s no reason why that shouldn’t be the case for football fans, as it is for fans of rugby league, watching Oasis, or anything else that happens often in the same stadiums in the same seats.” The FSA’s position is that clubs should have the choice, in consultation with supporters, to sell alcohol.
Clubs might want to offer it in all stands, others in designated areas, while a few might choose not to do so at all. Other sports offer designated alcohol-free sections, something that football clubs may wish to copy for some families and supporters who do not consume alcohol because of their religion. The FSA acknowledges this, but believes having the option to make such decisions is important. It believes relaxing the law would be more popular the further down the leagues you go, where alcohol sales could potentially provide a crucial additional income stream.
The UK Football Policing Unit rejected the suggestion, arguing alcohol plays “a significant part in violent and disorderly behaviour” and that “other sports simply don’t see the violence and criminal behaviour” that football does. Yet for Greatrex, there is already proof police are not open to ideas through their previous opposition to safe standing. Before it was introduced four years ago, Mark Roberts, who has been the national lead for football policing since 2014, told the BBC it would make it “easier to throw missiles, engage in hate chanting, racism, sneak alcohol in, take cocaine”. “[The police] were telling everybody that we couldn’t have standing at football again, that it would jeopardise safety, ” Greatrex said.
“Actually, what we saw then was a controlled, managed pilot projects to get that re-established. “There hasn’t been the level of disorder that some of the police sources were saying there would be. I think the police should have more of an open mind and engage in this in a sensible and mature way.” For many match-going fans, however, the prospect of beer being thrown and potential anti-social behaviour outweighs the opportunity to watch a game with a pint. Dave, a Chelsea fan from Twickenham, told Nicky Campbell on BBC Radio 5 Live, that he was “100% against it”.
“Have a look at some of the footage you see on social media at Boxpark, for instance. A goal goes in and there is beer and lager thrown everywhere,” he said. “I don’t want to go round stinking of other people’s beer and there is a fashion among certain supporters to throw their beer everywhere. “If people can’t go without drink for a 45-minute period there is something the matter with them.” Adrian, from Leicester, claimed it would be the “worst idea you could come up with”.
“There is enough trouble with other things in football, with the flares, drug taking and other things,” he added. “You throw the alcohol in as well. Football is tribal whereas other sports they aren’t.” But Ryan, a Wolves fan in Banbury, said “a solution that suits everybody” is to provide designated areas for drinking in stands. Football is in the only sport in the UK which faces restrictions on the consumption of alcohol.
Some of these sports have issues with alcohol-related and anti-social behaviour, but none have the same reputation as football. The restrictions differ around Europe. There is a strict ban in the top two divisions of Spanish football, where only alcohol-free beer can be sold outside of hospitality areas. It can, however, be taken to seats.
In the German Bundesliga, there is no ban on drinking at your seat. So relaxed is the approach to alcohol at games that you will even find people selling bottles of beer from shopping trolleys outside grounds. In the Italian Serie A it is similarly as relaxed, though to a limit of 5% ABV. Some games which are designated “high risk” have sales suspended in and around the stadium.
In France, the Evin Law was introduced in 1991 which is pretty much in line with Scotland, as far as football is concerned. Alcohol cannot be sold at any sports event, other than in VIP areas. Scotland fans allowed to buy alcohol at upcoming games WSL clubs to provide alcohol at games after trials Follow your club with BBC Sport Listen to the latest Football Daily podcast Get football news sent straight to your phone
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