PM Backs End To Football’s In-Stand Drinking Ban, But Police Urge Caution

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said the law preventing football supporters from drinking alcohol in view of the pitch should be reconsidered. He called it a discriminatory restriction rooted in a different era for the sport.

Speaking to journalists during a visit to New York for the United Nations, the Everton fan said it was unfair that football supporters faced restrictions not applied to followers of other sports. He suggested a trial period could be one way of easing the rules, and said this was a long-held personal view he had no intention of abandoning.

The Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc.) Act 1985 bars spectators in England and Wales from drinking alcohol within sight of the playing area at matches in the top five tiers of the men’s game, from the Premier League to the National League. Fans can buy drinks inside grounds but must consume them away from the stands. The law was brought in during a period of widespread concern over hooliganism.

Welcome Intervention

The Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) welcomed the Prime Minister’s comments. Chairman Tom Greatrex said it was unfair to treat supporters as criminals for enjoying a pint at a match, pointing out that the same person can drink from their seat at a concert or a rugby league fixture.

He said clubs were also increasingly supportive. The FSA says trials in the women’s game, involving Women’s Super League and WSL2 clubs, have gone well, with drinking in the stands now permitted at many grounds. Greatrex added that the English Football League has long backed a pilot in the men’s game. The FSA said it looked forward to contributing to any consultation.

The Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) also backed calls for a fresh look at the 40-year-old restrictions preventing football supporters from consuming alcohol in sight of the pitch.

The NTIA believes the debate should focus not on unrestricted drinking, but on whether modern technology, stadium management, licensing, stewarding and policing now provide an opportunity for a more proportionate, evidence-led approach.

Michael Kill, CEO of the Night Time Industries Association, said: “Football has changed beyond recognition over the last 40 years, and it is right that we ask whether regulation has kept pace with the modern game.

This is not about unrestricted drinking. It is about responsible, evidence-led reform, underpinned by the sophisticated safety, licensing, stewarding, policing and technology that exists in stadiums today.

The current rules can have unintended consequences, concentrating thousands of supporters onto concourses at half-time with a very short window to purchase and consume a drink. We should consider whether allowing controlled consumption over a longer period could encourage more responsible drinking and ease pressure on concourses.

We have also seen encouraging outcomes from trials in women’s football, demonstrating that alternative approaches can be tested within robust safety frameworks.

For lower-league clubs, this could also provide a significant new source of matchday revenue at a time when many desperately need greater financial sustainability.

Forty years on, this is an opportunity for a new era of regulation. A carefully controlled pilot in the men’s game, developed alongside clubs, police, licensing and safety authorities, would allow the evidence to determine what comes next.”

Police oppose change without evidence

The UK Football Policing Unit responded with a warning. A spokesman said any fundamental change made without a thorough review of the evidence and proper consultation with police would be “incredibly rash”.

The unit said it would welcome a meeting with the Prime Minister to set out how the proposals could affect policing and the safety of fans and staff. Its spokesman argued that, although only a minority are involved, football sees more violence and criminal behaviour among supporters than other sports, with alcohol frequently a factor. Allowing more drinking during matches, he said, would be irresponsible.

He also noted that the current framework followed a series of football-related tragedies and the resulting Taylor Report, and that the country is now in its longest period without a major disaster at a football ground.