[Football] Proposal to allow alcohol in the stands

[NorthstandRacoon]

Drinking beer should be able in the stands, but the purchase of it during the 90 minutes, no. To me I don't see a problem with buying a drink as the first/second half starts, but not having a constant supply throughout.

Bang on what I think.

 

[LamieRobertson]

Nah….we’re ok with hot chocolate, bovril etc in ESU ….pints would just lead to other issues with peeps frequently running, nah make that hobbling, off to the toilets

 

[drew]

Drinking beer should be able in the stands, but the purchase of it during the 90 minutes, no. To me I don't see a problem with buying a drink as the first/second half starts, but not having a constant supply throughout.

If they did, there should be a 5 year ban for anyone caught luzzing. And if that meant the whole of the North Stand became available for Season Tickets, so be it.

 

[jackalbion]

If they did, there should be a 5 year ban for anyone caught luzzing. And if that meant the whole of the North Stand became available for Season Tickets, so be it.

I mean I don’t agree with a 5 year ban straight away, but definitely a one strike and out thing.

 

[Zeberdi]

@Herr Tubthumper I’m surprised my suggestion of waiters service and free bar snacks for the 1901 Club went over your head.

I would have thought you of all people would enjoy a nice civilised glass of a cold Chardonnay while watching us give Manure a football lesson from the comfort of your 1901 seat

 

[London Irish]

Drinking beer should be able in the stands, but the purchase of it during the 90 minutes, no. To me I don't see a problem with buying a drink as the first/second half starts, but not having a constant supply throughout.

Indeed - you don’t want the constant beer journeys during the game but you should be able to sip a pint at the start of each half.

The beer luzzing is a total non issue - any clown doing that would quickly get CCTV’d and have a few games’s ban. They’d learn quickly. The unstewarded away end at Roma was no guide at all

A lot of this is Thatcherite snobbery, you can’t trust the oiks to behave. Set clear boundaries and clear sanctions and they’ll be zero problem

 

[studio150]

They’d learn quickly. The unstewarded away end at Roma was no guide at all

So what had they learnt from the Ajax away game?

 

[London Irish]

Nothing. What happens in mad away ends in Europe would have no bearing at all on what happens in the very tame home ends in this country. Home fan culture and away fan culture are obviously chalk and cheese and it’s pointless comparing them. Allowing alcohol in away ends would probably have to wait a while (maybe a long while) until it’s an established fixture in home ends and all the teething issues are sorted

 

[clapham_gull]

No.

Fine if we went back to the terraces where you could move around, go for a piss and potentially end up somewhere different.

If you don't want to be around alcohol (that's not me by the way) you are kinda stuck if you just happen to be sitting around people who do.

I'd just imagining whoever pulled the short straw trying to get back to their seat with three pints for their mates and a wagon wheel in their gob.

 

[Gazwag]

It’s the luzzing I have the issue with now we have moved to the north of my daughter got hit I can assure the culprit wouldn’t be enjoying a pint for a long time

My daughter got hit in the head with a full pint at one of the England matches when Saka scored in last year's Euros, ended up in the first aid room for a bit, not quite as bad as begin tear gased but up there. She still has a scar on her leg from that experience

To many immature dickheads at football to be trusted with a drink in the stands

 

[wellquickwoody]

No. If you can't go 45 minutes without alcohol then you have a serious problem.

Even an alcoholic can easily go 45 minutes without a drink, it’s not about that. For some people the match is the one time away each week from home, work, wife, the kids, just life’s pressures. Maybe they cannot get to the pub an hour or two before the match, maybe they have to be home quick to look after the kids. Just perhaps they have time to grab a pint before kick off, and another at half time but cannot finish it before the restart due to queues. The kid with coke is OK, the driver with his water is OK, but because some dullard objects to someone else having a pint in their seat everyone has to suffer? Bit crap IMO.

Anyone pissed, misbehaving or luzzing beer gets ejected just like now. Live and let live.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Even an alcoholic can easily go 45 minutes without a drink, it’s not about that. For some people the match is the one time away each week from home, work, wife, the kids, just life’s pressures. Maybe they cannot get to the pub an hour or two before the match, maybe they have to be home quick to look after the kids. Just perhaps they have time to grab a pint before kick off, and another at half time but cannot finish it before the restart due to queues. The kid with coke is OK, the driver with his water is OK, but because some dullard objects to someone else having a pint in their seat everyone has to suffer? Bit crap IMO.

Anyone pissed, misbehaving or luzzing beer gets ejected just like now. Live and let live.

The “kid with coke” doesn’t continually get up and go to the bar and then the toilet every 5 minutes, neither does the “driver with his water.”

It’s a bit sad if you’re going to football as a means to shoe-horn 5 pints into your day, which is what you’re suggesting.

I feel things are fine as they are.

 

[HangletonGull]

My daughter got hit in the head with a full pint at one of the England matches when Saka scored in last year's Euros, ended up in the first aid room for a bit, not quite as bad as begin tear gased but up there. She still has a scar on her leg from that experience

To many immature dickheads at football to be trusted with a drink in the stands

Not on , hope she is ok

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

@Herr Tubthumper I’m surprised my suggestion of waiters service and free bar snacks for the 1901 Club went over your head.

I would have thought you of all people would enjoy a nice civilised glass of a cold Chardonnay while watching us give Manure a football lesson from the comfort of your 1901 seat

Nice idea but I’m strictly against booze in the seats.

 

[South Stand Bonfire]

Even an alcoholic can easily go 45 minutes without a drink, it’s not about that. For some people the match is the one time away each week from home, work, wife, the kids, just life’s pressures. Maybe they cannot get to the pub an hour or two before the match, maybe they have to be home quick to look after the kids. Just perhaps they have time to grab a pint before kick off, and another at half time but cannot finish it before the restart due to queues. The kid with coke is OK, the driver with his water is OK, but because some dullard objects to someone else having a pint in their seat everyone has to suffer? Bit crap IMO.

Anyone pissed, misbehaving or luzzing beer gets ejected just like now. Live and let live.

I don’t object to the sensible person having a beer in the stands which applies to 99% of fans at a game but it is unfortunate that the 1% of dickheads will inevitably spoil it for everyone else.

 

[PascalGroß Tips]

My daughter got hit in the head with a full pint at one of the England matches when Saka scored in last year's Euros, ended up in the first aid room for a bit, not quite as bad as begin tear gased but up there. She still has a scar on her leg from that experience

To many immature dickheads at football to be trusted with a drink in the stands

Not football … but we went to a Bad Manners gig a number of years ago … just 2 or 3 songs in and someone in front of us decided to throw there plastic cup of beer over there shoulder and in our direction. It hit our friend just above her eye - which Saw her drop to the floor (not helped by the fact she’d recently had surgery which had left her with facial palsy and this was her first time properly back out at an event. Venue staff had to call an ambulance and we didn’t see any more of the gig.

Totally agree with your last comment. It’s a big NO from me.

 

[PascalGroß Tips]

Even an alcoholic can easily go 45 minutes without a drink, it’s not about that. For some people the match is the one time away each week from home, work, wife, the kids, just life’s pressures. Maybe they cannot get to the pub an hour or two before the match, maybe they have to be home quick to look after the kids. Just perhaps they have time to grab a pint before kick off, and another at half time but cannot finish it before the restart due to queues. The kid with coke is OK, the driver with his water is OK, but because some dullard objects to someone else having a pint in their seat everyone has to suffer? Bit crap IMO.

Anyone pissed, misbehaving or luzzing beer gets ejected just like now. Live and let live.

Oh no … I really feel for those poor people.

 

[tedebear]

I don’t object to the sensible person having a beer in the stands which applies to 99% of fans at a game but it is unfortunate that the 1% of dickheads will inevitably spoil it for everyone else.

This is exactly the issue, completely agree. The minority will spoil it for the majority...

 

[Brovion]

Not that I expect many on here will consider it but there are plenty of people from other cultures, creeds or have other issues with alcohol (not to mention parents with kids) where having beer (or indeed any alcohol) thrown over them would be a complete No for all manner of reasons and effectively would bar them from attending the games to avoid even the risk of it. ...

That's a valid point. When you see film of the England cricket team celebrating a victory by spraying champagne the Muslim players quickly leave the group as they don't want to get touched by the alcohol. There are people who could be put off attending a football match in case this might happen. And yes I know this will be dismissed by some as such a remote possibility that it simply isn't worth snowflakes worrying about, but people will, and it is a factor to bear in mind, especially as we want to make football more inclusive.

However ....

While I’m in two minds about this, I’m definite about believing this should be up to the clubs, not the government. The legislation that followed on from the Taylor Report has had its day, and its legal requirements should either be handed back to the clubs’ discretion or absorbed into Health and Safety legislation, thus stopping football being a special case.

Maybe that could be the answer? I still think the initial ban was Thatcherite class spite, but to contradict slightly what I said in my original post, yes let's lift the blanket ban and introduce pitch-view drinking on a club by club, case by case basis. Maybe clubs could have a 'beer drinking' stand along with a 'safe standing' stand? (Might even be one and the same). Any misbehaviour and the licence is revoked.

 

[wellquickwoody]

The “kid with coke” doesn’t continually get up and go to the bar and then the toilet every 5 minutes, neither does the “driver with his water.”

It’s a bit sad if you’re going to football as a means to shoe-horn 5 pints into your day, which is what you’re suggesting.

I feel things are fine as they are.

Please read again. I am suggesting a pint before kick off, and then purchase another at half time to go back to his seat rather than neck it, or leave part of it behind, or miss a few minutes. I am only suggesting two pints in total.