Why the alcohol ban at football matches is for the best, despite the unfairness - Ismail Mulla
Last week, the day after England’s victory over DR Congo in their first knockout match of the 2026 football World Cup, I had to visit the A&E at Pinderfields Hospital. We were only there for a few minutes, before being transferred to another department but the time that we spent there was illuminating.
There were at least four or five football fans, looking worse for wear. Broken noses, bruised limbs and intoxication being some of the symptoms that obviously warranted medical attention.
Far from me to be a killjoy, after all who isn’t happy seeing the Three Lions do well, but why is it that at every tournament some football fans think it’s okay to act silly? The rest of us football fans have to suffer from second-hand embarrassment as a result of the antics of a minority.
Mercifully, the World Cup is not being held here, otherwise the probability of having to endure the sort of clownery we saw during the Euros held here in 2021 would have been unavoidable. Who can forget the fine gentleman who decided to stick a flare up his rear orifice?
While this sort of behaviour may be amusing to some, I’m pretty sure medical staff who have to stitch these people back together have an altogether different view.
There really has been little respite for those working on the frontline of the NHS. Over the winter months they have to contend with the flu and elderly people freezing to death. This summer there are heatwave warnings with people suffering from heat stroke and exhaustion. Add to that the menace of drunken idiots getting carried away over the football.
Let’s not forget that a lot of them are having to do all of this in dated buildings that are not fit for summer or winter.
Rather than focusing on populist policies such as allowing pubs and bars to stay open into the early hours of the morning for football, the Government really should be focusing on how the nuisance behaviour resulting from football can be mitigated.
I must confess. I’ve never touched a drop of alcohol in my life and far from a teetotaler to tell others to stop drinking. People should be free to celebrate as they wish. There’s enough misery for us all to contend with. However, a little control and moderation would not go amiss.
Unfortunately, history shows us that when it comes to the England national men’s team, a minority of fans are not to be trusted to exert control over their behaviour.
Which brings us to Andy Burnham criticising a ban on football fans drinking alcohol in the stands. The Prime Minister-in-waiting and Everton fan said “I think we need to look at that” after rugby league fans were able to drink while watching matches at the home of his football team.
Burnham was at the Hill Dickinson Stadium to watch the rugby league team he supports, Leigh Leopards, defeat Warrington Wolves on Saturday.
The Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol) Act 1985 prohibits drinking in sight of the pitch during football matches in England and Wales. A fan-led review of football governance in 2021 called for the law to be re-examined. However, police chiefs have warned against relaxing the law.
You have to feel sorry for genuine football fans who just want to have a drink while watching their team and get back home without any trouble. By and large, they should be trusted.
Clearly when fans of other sports are able to drink, it seems unfair to prevent football fans from doing the same. I’ve been to many international cricket matches, sitting in a variety of enclosures, including on one lucky occasion in a corporate box. In the popular enclosure, the alcohol would freely flow but the only inconvenience to others were the queues to the toilets.
In fact, even to non-drinkers, the Western Terrace’s hijinks at Headingley provided amusing interludes to the day’s play.
That is the problem with football. Its mass appeal means that a trawler net will drag in all sorts, including tanked up yobs. And other sports seem to have an unwritten code about behaviour. That is why repealing the Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol) Act 1985 without careful consideration would be a mistake.
The Act isn’t always robustly enforced. Nor should it be. On a number of occasions I’ve witnessed football fans on the way to the game on the train cracking open cans of beer. When in actuality it is an offence to knowingly carry or possess alcohol on trains while traveling to or from a designated football match.
But drinking in the stands would only let the genie out of the bottle and football has already been in a dark place when it comes to alcohol fuelled trouble.