Should drinking in the stands be allowed back in football?

[Winston Biscuit]

Trial going on in women's football where you can drink in your seat.

Should drinking be allowed in the stands at mens games?

[Snowflake Royal]

It should, because we ought to have a society capable of enjoying a couple of pints without turning into psychotic drunkards.

Sadly we don’t, so we shouldn't because of the significant minority unable to control themselves.

[Sanguine]

It should, because we ought to have a society capable of enjoying a couple of pints without turning into psychotic drunkards.

Sadly we don’t, so we shouldn't because of the significant minority unable to control themselves.

This.

Think about performative pint-throwing at BoxParks and other venues. Now think about beer in football stadiums. Nope.

[Winston Biscuit]

yeah I am of the opinion it shouldn't. the ban has been in place so long that we have had a couple of generations growing up going to matches without it and its accepted as normal. also agree that society has laws and rules because of an idiotic small minority that can't cope, and you just know they would behave abysmally if it was brought back in.

[Hendo]

It should, because we ought to have a society capable of enjoying a couple of pints without turning into psychotic drunkards.

Sadly we don’t, so we shouldn't because of the significant minority unable to control themselves.

This.

Think about performative pint-throwing at BoxParks and other venues. Now think about beer in football stadiums. Nope.

Another +1

[Sanguine]

The more I ponder it, the more I realise how pathetic football tribalism is - or at least what goes with it in terms of behaviour. I think you can drink in your seat watching England play rugby at Twickenham. I've been off my face by close of play plenty of times at the Oval after a day's Test cricket. But I've not taken a swing at opposition fans, or thrown a beer.

[stealthpapes]

I was fairly sure I was allowed a pint when I was watching Euros games in 2016, but then again it was a 2.5% radler.

That's a possible solution.

(Plus some form of keep your cup and get money back)

[Sanguine]

I was fairly sure I was allowed a pint when I was watching Euros games in 2016, but then again it was a 2.5% radler.

That's a possible solution.

(Plus some form of keep your cup and get money back)

We've seen 'lads' launching £50 worth of beer in the air because they happened to be buying a round when England scored. I don't think £2 for a cup back is going to stop them being thrown (as much as - again - that works just great at cricket).

[Winston Biscuit]

I was fairly sure I was allowed a pint when I was watching Euros games in 2016, but then again it was a 2.5% radler.

That's a possible solution.

(Plus some form of keep your cup and get money back)

We've seen 'lads' launching £50 worth of beer in the air because they happened to be buying a round when England scored. I don't think £2 for a cup back is going to stop them being thrown (as much as - again - that works just great at cricket).

in modern stadiums like Spurs where I believe you can serve yourself via some machine, each plastic cup could have a serial number on it and when you pay via card it could retain that info. any plastic cups on the pitch and they scan them to see who the purchaser was

[Brogue]

pretty easy to moderate, they should quite simply say, you can take a pint up with you to the seat. but no alcohol can be sold while the football is on.

[Winston Biscuit]

around 15-20 years ago we would just buy the designated driver a pint of lemonade or summat, and then fill that with beer at 2:58 and wander up to our seats sipping beer through a straw in my seat as the game kicked off

#lad

[Sanguine]

I was fairly sure I was allowed a pint when I was watching Euros games in 2016, but then again it was a 2.5% radler.

That's a possible solution.

(Plus some form of keep your cup and get money back)

We've seen 'lads' launching £50 worth of beer in the air because they happened to be buying a round when England scored. I don't think £2 for a cup back is going to stop them being thrown (as much as - again - that works just great at cricket).

in modern stadiums like Spurs where I believe you can serve yourself via some machine, each plastic cup could have a serial number on it and when you pay via card it could retain that info. any plastic cups on the pitch and they scan them to see who the purchaser was

Okay, but this is reaching a bit for the sake of a pint in the stands. 'Wasn't me, my mate threw my cup.'
It's on fans to behave like adults, I'm afraid.

[stealthpapes]

I was fairly sure I was allowed a pint when I was watching Euros games in 2016, but then again it was a 2.5% radler.

That's a possible solution.

(Plus some form of keep your cup and get money back)

We've seen 'lads' launching £50 worth of beer in the air because they happened to be buying a round when England scored. I don't think £2 for a cup back is going to stop them being thrown (as much as - again - that works just great at cricket).

in modern stadiums like Spurs where I believe you can serve yourself via some machine, each plastic cup could have a serial number on it and when you pay via card it could retain that info. any plastic cups on the pitch and they scan them to see who the purchaser was

they had that at St Andrews for Blues Reading (mate of mine runs their fanzone) - the fucking queues on that thing

[katweslowski]

Having been to many games, and seeing the utter twats that go absolutely not.

I'm all for a laugh, but many fans are so anti-social and insufferable that you'd end up getting soaked with beer after an equaliser against Peterborough in the 26th minute on a cold Tuesday night.

These are the same fans that continually say things like:

If you want to sit you shouldn't go to games
Away games are unreserved so I don't care that your ticket says a seat number - go somewhere else (as I've seen on Twitter)

[stealthpapes]

I was fairly sure I was allowed a pint when I was watching Euros games in 2016, but then again it was a 2.5% radler.

That's a possible solution.

(Plus some form of keep your cup and get money back)

We've seen 'lads' launching £50 worth of beer in the air because they happened to be buying a round when England scored. I don't think £2 for a cup back is going to stop them being thrown (as much as - again - that works just great at cricket).

Prices in London these days.

Away games are unreserved so I don't care that your ticket says a seat number - go somewhere else (as I've seen on Twitter)

Christ. This. And then five lads trying to cram in two seats as they've turned up late and don't want to be down the front.

[katweslowski]

The more I ponder it, the more I realise how pathetic football tribalism is - or at least what goes with it in terms of behaviour. I think you can drink in your seat watching England play rugby at Twickenham. I've been off my face by close of play plenty of times at the Oval after a day's Test cricket. But I've not taken a swing at opposition fans, or thrown a beer.

It really is ridiculous. The pettiness of football fans is tiresome. I've been to only a few rugby games - unsure how I feel, but it's unbelievably different, the culture, atmosphere, the traditions. One thing I did find annoying though was when watching Saracens vs Harlequins at Tottenham, I had to stand up about 10 times during one half as people kept wanting out to get another pint of beer.

Football fans do things like this:

Liverpool fans doing plane gestures at Man United. Then their fans commenting "Typical liverpool"... then the favour is returned the next game when Man United mock Hillsborough.

Fans complaining about police filming them - then two minutes later surging towards away fans or throwing something

You only have to look through replies to Reading posts to see some ridiculous comments. Saturday's game they had Beder on the shirts which is a charity all focused on mental health and suicide prevention. About 10 different posts I saw in response were angry saying things like "ironic given this club has driven me to suicide" and "is this a joke? what about our mental health due to Dai Yongge".

Sending racist abuse to players - even their own


I don't think I even like football much anymore

[katweslowski]

Christ. This. And then five lads trying to cram in two seats as they've turned up late and don't want to be down the front.

Yea that happened to me and my partner at Wycombe. It ruined the game really as we were uncomfortable and about 3-4 minutes before the start, their friends joined them and about 4 were stood in a space for 2. They were then continually stepping in front of us to give the finger or shout at some Wycombe fans sat 50 metres away - all of whom were looking up the pitch and not even stood/interested in us.

We moved in the second half to the side of the stand and found a better spot

(just a side note, I am not an old killjoy, but I am in my early 40s and just sick of some of this type of thing)

[stealthpapes]

Christ. This. And then five lads trying to cram in two seats as they've turned up late and don't want to be down the front.

Yea that happened to me and my partner at Wycombe. It ruined the game really as we were uncomfortable and about 3-4 minutes before the start, their friends joined them and about 4 were stood in a space for 2. They were then continually stepping in front of us to give the finger or shout at some Wycombe fans sat 50 metres away - all of whom were looking up the pitch and not even stood/interested in us.

We moved in the second half to the side of the stand and found a better spot

(just a side note, I am not an old killjoy, but I am in my early 40s and just sick of some of this type of thing)

I was going to mention Wycombe. Not the recent league game but the league cup game a few years back, pre-Covid. We sold out, but there was no attempt to manage the crowd. Ended up properly crowded in the centre. I moved over to the (many) empty seats down the far side.

Got chatting with a bloke taking his kid to their first ever game. Hope he enjoyed it.

[Dirk Gently]

Not in an all seated stand, where you'd constantly be up and down as people go to and from getting more drinks and to and from having a piss.

Fine in a standing enclosure where there's room to get past.

[Stranded]

It should be allowed in English football but naturally won't be for all the reasons mentioned.

Beer sales go on throughout the game over here with sellers walking up and down the stands - beers passed along the row to the buyer, money passed back along but football isn't as tribal here and whilst there is an away end, most home games you will see fans mixed - hardly ever any trouble as it is accepted.

If you support Eintracht but your mate supports Wolfsburg, why shouldn't you be able to sit with each other when they play each other? No one bats an eyelid if the fan in the wrong end celebrates - even if they've had a drink.

If football culture can accept that in the UK then beer in the stands can and likely will make a return. Possibly there is a middle ground where beer is only sold in one stand - the one furthest away from the away end - or where the most expensive seats are.