It appears that team down the road from us are leading the charge to bring back alcohol in the stands. http://http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/drinking-alcohol-football-grounds-premier-1709494
Here are a few thoughts, in no particular order. Why is it not possible to go for 2 hours without a beer? The clubs do not help by having bars open in the stands where you are tempted to buy a drink then swiftly throw it down your neck to get back for the 2nd half kick off, it is a crazy idea but it generates money, a reasonable amount too I suspect. Let's say it is permitted, I wonder how many people will get soaked when a goal is scored as beer is thrown all over the place? Seriously, how many fans will not contain their ecstasy of a goal? A decent number I would think.
....not mention how bloody annoying it would be having people getting up and squeezing past you to go to the bar/have a piss during the game. Totally agree that people should be able to wait two bloody hours to have a pint - and I love a pint as much as anyone
That happens anyway, more so in the 2nd half as they have all been speed drinking at half time - even worse in the winter
i have to say that when i first heard this a few weeks ago i was all for it but having read a number of other fans views i've changed my mind and am now against bringing it in. in fact, i think maybe a total ban of alcohol within the ground may be the best way forward. we've banned smoking and people have coped without that so why should it be any different for booze? i don't go and get plastered when going to the football but i do like to go for a few drinks before and after, chat to opposing fans over a beer - nothing wrong with that - but inside the ground? i don't have a drink there very often to be honest. so yep, i've changed my mind about it! ban selling alcohol inside the ground
Dead right I get annoyed by those who leave 5 mins b4 half time to get beer then are 5 mins late getting back making us all stand up again , strangely seems to be the same lot who leave early making us stand again, I love a beer too and understand its part of the day for some but we have lived without it on the terraces for a long time now and can continue to do so
Things are fine just the way they are if you ask me. No-one likes a pint or three more than me, but I avoid the queue at the toilets by not drinking at all before or during the match
I've been to a few music performances where alcohol is allowed. Beer was provided in plastic bottles, a similar shape to normal beer bottles. Quite often people throw their empty beer bottles up in the air in any direction. Many bottles were thrown that had quite a lot of beer left in them. A guy near me got struck on the head by a beer bottle that was still quite full. He ended up on the floor quite dazed and not in a good way. If that's what it's like at music performances it will be a heck of a lot worse at football matches, especially if their team is playing badly on concedes a goal. I certainly wouldn't let the people around me (bloody moaners) near a drop of alcohol and that's in the N and P!
I had a near miss with a tumbler a few years back dropped from just above my head, clipped me on the way down and nearly put me out, dread to think what a well directed thrown with force bottle could do to someone! Ban the lot I say
There are some right little Stalinists on here! Why stop people from doing what they want to do if it is a legal activity? If people watching Cricket can enjoy a beer throughout the game why can't people watching football? The prinicple behind this is giving people the freedom to choose and for those who say things like "can't people wait 2 hours before having a beer" you are totally missing the point! One of the big problems we have in our society today is people who want to ban perfectly reasonable things because they don't personally agree with them! Football and society's attitudes have largely moved on since the 1970s & 80s and I suggest you do the same!
I go to a lot of gigs myself and I don't know how to tell you this, but that isn't always "leftover beer" in those bottles - let's just say there are plenty of mindless idiots out there for whom a trip to the gents to empty the bladder halfway through a set isn't something they can really be bothered with. Absolutely never done it myself, but I've been showered in piss more than enough times at gigs over the years and my mate even had some twat pissing up the backs of his legs at Glastonbury one year. That didn't go down to well I can assure you!
But drinking alcohol during a football game is currently an illegal activity, so I don't get your point. And you can't compare football with cricket in terms of being a spectator sport, it's totally different. I've also been to plenty of test and 20/20 matches over the years and whilst the cricket is obviously important, to me the day out is more of a social event, enjoying the sunshine and banter with your mates, scoffing some good grub and having a few pints while taking a cursary glance at what's going on on the field of play and clapping a great shot/wicket/half-century etc every now and again. Fans aren't segregated at cricket matches, and there's never any trouble as (at the risk of sounding a snob here) the fans tend to be more civilised than a lot of thise you get at football where the sport is far more tribal. Football moves at a faster pace with more going on all the time so you are watching the field of play for the whole ninety minutes. I'm absolutely no "little Stalinist", but I can definitely see the problems that it would cause and for me they far outweigh the advantage of being able to drink a couple of bottles of over-priced ****ty lager during a match.
Sorry JWM but that's bollocks. As our society becomes more "enlightened" there is a corresponding desire to outlaw things that we apparently shouldn't be doing anymore. Since the 70's see smoking, seatbelts, alcohol and food restrictions. For the vocal moral minority, those who drive change, beer on terraces would be seen as a step back, not a way forward.
Much as it pains me to do so I tend to agree with our esteemed guest JWM. Personally I don't drink at the game - £4 for piss-poor beer is not my idea of fun but if others fancy knocking back a pint of cooking lager then I am happy for them to do so as long as they don't interfere with anyone else's viewing pleasure. I would caveat by closing the bars when the whistle goes off but allowing people to take drinks purchased either before the match or at half time. This should ease the conjestion at half time and would avoid people having to neck their drinks in the bar areas. Obviously no glass allowed and anyone caught chucking a bottle or skiff gets prosecuted and a lifetime ban. This way if you want a drink you can have one as long as you behave and disruption to the rest of the viewing punters is minimised. I have to say that it would itrritate me to have to repeatedly get up and sit down to let people to and from the bars whilst the game is going on.
Now I feel a bit sick! But I'm sure that particular 'activity' is unlikely at a football match. Although the throwing of bottles may be.
The point is that drinking alcohol is legal or it was the last time I looked! Why ban the sale of alcohol during the game when it is sold before and after? It doesn't make sense! Personally I don't buy alcohol at the football ground but if other people want to enjoy a beer during the game then they should be given the right as far as I'm concerned. Live and let live
smoking is legal too. to be honest, as i stated above, i had the same thoughts as you when i first heard about it and i too compared the situation to that in cricket, but on further reflection and hearing stuff from other people, i can totally see why people think its a horrid idea and they've changed my view now. i think it would only lead to problems unfortunately.
