I am not a great fan of Jim Murphy, the leader of the Scottish Branch of the UK Labour Party, but at least he has put the topic of drink inside Scottish Football back in the public domain for discussion.
He may be using it as a political football to further his own aims and appeal to the lowest common dominator to attract votes but he has actually struck a chord with me.
I have been a supporter of allowing people to have a drink inside the stadium since I visited a number of grounds in England for games involving my English team, Middlesbrough. This has taken me to only four grounds in truth, Riverside Stadium, JJB Stadium, Reebok Stadium (names correct at the time of my visits) and Loftus Rd. I have also been to Wembley and Old Trafford for the NFL International series and a Play Off Final respectively.
At each of these grounds I have managed to have a beer with my mates in an environment which has always been relaxed and family friendly. I have yet to see anyone get “hammered” at any of these events, and don’t tell me the people of Middlesbrough are any different from those in Motherwell.
The major frustration for me is the many arguments given against the return of “booze to the football”:
1) We don’t want a return to the scene at Hampden in 1980.
This was a one off event, even back then, when Old Firm fans chose to have a battle with each other on the pitch. These were the days when it was normal to take your Agnews bag to the game, with half a dozen can of Tennents and a bottle of Buckie.
This is not what people are advocating, what is being proposed is based upon the English model where you can have a drink in the concourse before taking your seat, in a controlled environment.
2) People must have a problem if they can’t go 90 minutes without a drink is another counter argument.
As above they will have to, as they won’t be able to take a drink to their seats. I would also like to remind those nay sayers that people do actually have a drink before and after games at the moment!
3) Domestic violence will go up.
This must be one of the most outrageous claims, just because football clubs sell alcohol for 90 minutes or so before a game of football people are more likely to go home and abuse their partner, come on!
4) There is a different dynamic between a rugby crowd and a football one.
Another one I find hard to believe, as the number of people I know who attend both is quite large. So when they attend a Glasgow Warriors game a person can be civilised but as soon as they enter Fir Park for a Motherwell game (where a drink would be very helpful this season) they will become a raging looney.
I could go one but I won’t as I think the establishment, the authorities, call them what you will, are treating there customers like idiots and as a result will reap what they sow there.
Every time they use any of the excuses above they undermine the people they would like to attract to games, and good God don’t we need to attract people to games.
I am not saying this will be a cure for all the ills in our game, but it would certainly help to “improve the matchday experience” and could help attract more people back to games and even some money into the clubs when they most need.
Its time for change and hopefully someone in the higher echelons of the game will see sense and allow a pilot somewhere and we can behave like it is the 21st Century after all.
WRITTEN BY GRAHAM BARNSTAPLE
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