Was just wondering, when looking at the Target 20K thread and thinking of sarcastic replies to how we could improve the 'Matchday Experience'
Does anyone know why:
- Some clubs don't sell beer/alcohol at all?
- Why it's only allowed in concourses, this only applies to football I think?
- Which competitions don't allow alcohol to be served? (and why?)
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I thought it was law enforced by the Government / UEFA / FIFA / FA or whoever
2) alcohol is not allowed to be consumed in view of the pitch from 15 mins before to 15 mins after the game, that's why it's only sold on the concourses. I was in Hamburg las week and a guy walks up and down the aisle with a back pack full of beer and when you want one, at any time, you just give him a shout and he hands you a pint.
3) i believe UEFA competitions don't allow alcohol to be served inside the stadium (again, apart from in the corporate areas) - I have no idea, I'm sure Heineken are a major sponsor of the Champions League
Same with Sheffield United away one year they have yellow boxes in front of the entrance to the seats, stood in there for a second as I was drinking a beer to see if the players had come out for their warm up and got told off by a steward
If you look at this weekend, where a coin was thrown at Chris Brunt from his own supporters, and at Manchester City players celebrating a goal at Chelsea, I don't know that supporters are ready to be *trusted* with alcohol during the match.
I think it's just another example of football fans being victimised, I'm too young to have known much about the hooligan stuff of the 1980's/early '90s (which, let's be honest, is where these rules come from) yet for some reason I'm penalised for things that happened decades ago.
In Argentina and Uruguay I've been breathalysed before going in. I don't know what the limit is but if you're drunk you're not getting in. Brazil only sold non-alcoholic beer.
But as mentioned above, there's plenty of evidence available - our own supporters as well as those on TV at the weekend - to counter any argument that the ruling should be changed.
Also, FIFA have already reached an agreement with Qatar that booze will be served. If we have learned nothing else from the last couple decades, we should all know that FIFA is more powerful than any sovereign nation or the religious practices therein.
http://web.archive.org/web/20091115172536/http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/10112009/58/world-cup-qatar-2022-green-lights-israel-booze.html
Ipswich don't serve alcohol (or didn't at least when I last went), but there again I can't recall if their bar at the away end is in view of the pitch.
The Sporting Events (Control Of Alcohol Etc) Act 1985 is the relevant legislation.
That act provides provisions to prevent:-
drunken entry into a football ground (which, in practice, to be an arrestable offence includes disorderly behaviour);
the consumption of alcohol within view of the playing area including, during the restricted period (15 minutes before the start of the event to 15 minutes after the end of the event), rooms within the ground from which the event may be directly viewed;
the consumption of alcohol on certain coaches, trains and motor vehicles travelling to a designated football match;
the possession of fireworks or flares.
The Act applies to the following sporting events:-
Association football matches in which one or both of the participating teams represents a club which is for the time being a member (whether a full or associate member) of the Football League, the Football Association Premier League, the Football Conference National Division, the Scottish Football League or Welsh Premier League, or represents a country or territory.
Association football matches in competition the Football association Cup (other than in the preliminary or qualifying round).
The Act does not apply at grounds where a match is being watched on a screen as part of a 'beam back'.
Penalties vary according to the offence they range from a fine to a fine and/or a jail sentence of up to three months. It is noteworthy that an individual, say, stewarding coach travel can be guilty of an offence as well as the drinker.
Crowds at Dulwich Hamlet have ballooned recently - it's nice to be able to watch a match with a pint, especially at night, and they've opened a little pitchside bar (tokens only while they deal with a couple of issues with Southwark licensing).
They used to turn a blind eye to the odd can being brought in, but they've had to start enforcing a ban on booze being taken into the ground because of idiots bringing bottles in and leaving them around the place, and the number of twats who swan in with cases of Stella they'd bought from the Sainsbury's next door.
I went to St Pauli last year - like most German grounds you can get a drink and take it to your seat. You pay a deposit on the cup, so cheapskates can grab a few discarded cups and get the cost of their beer back ;-)