England, a country that eats, breathes, and lives football does not allow its spectators to drink inside a stadium. This system might just change in the coming days and the football fans in England will be able to drink alcohol while watching football games from inside the stadium.
The development comes as Tracey Crouch, a former sports minister has suggested recommendations in a fan-led review of English football. The ban on drinking alcohol inside stadiums is in place since 1985, but this ban might be lifted if Tracey Crouch's recommendations are accepted.
In England, drinking is allowed during sports like cricket, rugby, and also in the lower divisions of football, but there are strict rules in top-level football. A spectator can only drink during the half time.
“Our view on alcohol and football is outdated,” Crouch told the Times. “It’s not helped when you see scenes like we did at Wembley. But that’s why I would pilot it first.”
Crouch feels that the habit of drinking quickly during halftime is an unhealthy practice. She said, “We kettle people into drinking quickly at half-time. And that is the unhealthy aspect of the football fan’s relationship with alcohol. They drink a lot in a short space of time. So my recommendation is to pilot this and not have to down a pint at half-time.”
Crouch also told that a lot of smaller clubs playing in the top divisions survive solely on the refreshments ordered inside the stadium and thus it si economically viable to allow spectators to have alcohol inside the stadiums.
“Take a club like Dulwich Hamlet, which is in National League South, its revenue is generated through its refreshments. If it gets promoted to the National League premier, it effectively stops generating that revenue during a game. They said openly in evidence to us that they cannot afford to get promoted because of the rules around alcohol."
“We do have this bizarre situation where you can go to Headingley and drink as a cricket fan, but go to Elland Road and you can’t drink as a football fan," she said.