Andy Burnham has branded a ban on fans being allowed to drink alcohol in the stands during men’s football matches as “discrimination”.
The prime minister told reporters that “I don’t think it’s fair for football fans to be singled out”, as he suggested a change could be trialled.
Laws are in place which prevent drinking in view of the pitch at stadiums for clubs in the top five tiers of men’s football in England. Other sports do not face such a restriction.
Could that possibly be because other sports don’t feature drunken riots?
I know, I know – football is more working class, and that’s why they’re not telling the toffs at cricket matches to put away the Macallan.
The legislation was introduced in 1985 by Margaret Thatcher’s government for English and Welsh football grounds. At the time, then-Home Secretary Leon Brittan said that alcohol was a “major contributory factor in violent and disorderly behaviour” in football grounds.
I was once on an evening train going from somewhere northish back to London, and was rather dismayed to find it packed with football fans. They didn’t get violent, but they weren’t quiet and unobtrusive, either. In other words, what if it’s just true that football fans are particularly prone to rowdy behavior?
A UK Football Policing Unit (UKFPU) spokesman warned that changes to the law would pose “challenges” to policing and the “safety of staff and fans at football games”.
He said: “Other sports simply don’t see the violence and criminal behaviour from their supporters that football does, albeit a minority, with alcohol often playing a significant part in violent and disorderly behaviour.
“It would be irresponsible to fuel this by allowing greater alcohol consumption during games.”
I wonder how much of it is self-fulfilling prophecy? Fans know they have a reputation for getting violent, so they feel they’d better live up to it? Not doing so would be a betrayal of their class?
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