Scotland is not healthy. I went to see Scotland versus Greece on 23 March and it did my voice no good, and certainly my optimism was destroyed at the end of the match.
We have a ritual that sees us in a pub in Shawlands and then we walk to Hampden. I mention this as I see that the debate has started again on whether alcohol should be available in football stadia in Scotland.
The ban took place post 1980 after a riot between sections of the ‘old firm’ fans and the upshot was a ban on alcohol in grounds as it was considered that alcohol was a contributory factor to the violence.
The cons against lifting the ban are easy. Scotland has an “alcohol health emergency” according to Alcohol Focus Scotland, who recently reported on a study commissioned by the Scottish Football Association and the Scottish Professional Football League, conducted by the University of Stirling, which found that lifting the ban would contribute to further disorder at football matches.
So having ready access to alcohol in grounds is crazy. Then again – there are pubs within easy reach of most football stadiums and, of course, there is hospitality that very often offers a ‘free bar’ as part of the price of the hospitality ticket. So if you are knocking down pints before the free bar closes then surely this is worse than pacing yourself during the match as you sit with your plastic cup of beer?
If you go to the rugby at Murrayfield you can watch the match with alcohol. Why is rugby different if there is an alcohol emergency?
The Scottish Football Supporters Association suggest that a trial of selling alcohol at some matches may be a way forward – I am not unsympathetic to that idea. As part of the trial sales could be limited to beer/cider/wine rather than spirits. Then again, this whole decision could be left to clubs and the local community to determine their strategy on alcohol sales in stadium rather than a national ban.
The argument, in terms of Scotland’s problem with alcohol, should not ignore the increase in home drinking over the years, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic. There are over a thousand places to buy booze in Fife! This includes off sales and supermarkets where the price of alcohol is cheaper than going to the pub – for example in Morrisons you can buy 18 cans Carlsberg lager for £17.52 – 440ml which is around ¾ pint.
Some folks of course try and get round bans like this by trying to sneak in their own drink.
By way of example, as we were waiting to go into Hampden last week a kilted man was running along towards our turnstile, and he tripped and dropped the plastic bag he was carrying. His bottle of Buckfast hit the deck and the tonic wine flowed away.
It got the biggest cheer of the night.
