Study claims that ending Scottish football booze ban would be government “own goal”

A STUDY into the proposal to end the alcohol ban in Scottish football grounds claims that authorities have scored an “own goal”.

Alcohol Focus Scotland was commissioned by the Scottish Football Association (SFA) and Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) to undertake the study to explore how the reintroduction of booze could look.

However the charity has said that the reintroduction of alochol in football grounds would be at odds with the aims of the Scottish Government’s national alcohol framework, which include reducing the availability of alcohol across the nation.

The exploratory study, carried out by the University of Stirling, concluded that bringing alcohol back to grounds could result in increased alcohol consumption, reduced fan safety and increased public disorder.

Researchers spoke to a variety of stakeholders within football clubs, safety management, the police, public health and NHS, the Scottish Government and alcohol licensing as well as conducting site visits to Scottish and English stadia.
 
The possible impacts of making alcohol available for general sale at football stadia identified were overwhelmingly negative.

Concerns ranged from the added risk of disorder at matches, to increased alcohol consumption by those attending matches, a loss of income to local pubs, and the exposure of children and young people to alcohol consumption and to increased alcohol marketing.

The potential benefits were limited to fewer people arriving late at matches.

The report also calls into question claims that allowing alcohol to be sold more widely in stadia would be of financial benefit to clubs, with the report finding “there was uncertainty over whether clubs would make any profit due to the considerable investment needed for mitigation measures, crowd management, meeting licensing standards, staff training, additional risk management criteria as well as improving the physical infrastructure of stadia”. 

The researchers concluded that any pilot to introduce alcohol into Scottish football stadia would have to be robustly designed to collect a range of data and conducted by an independent research team with funding from an independent source, not football or other organisations with a financial interest.

SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster has made no secret of his desire to see the law changed on alcohol in Scottish stadia, whilst St Johnstone owner Adam Webb has recently been vocal in his opposition to the current ban.

Alison Douglas, chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, said: “This SFA and SPFL-funded study is an own goal.

“Far from making the case for lifting the alcohol ban in stadia it surely kicks it into touch.

“Not only could making alcohol more available at matches increase risks to fan safety and public disorder, it would be a major step in the wrong direction when it comes to people’s health.

“Scotland is in the grip of an alcohol health emergency, with alcohol deaths having just reached a 15-year high – and we expect these grim figures to persist in the coming years due to the lasting impact of the pandemic on people’s drinking patterns.

“Increasing the availability of alcohol results in increased consumption, which translates to increased harm.

“Given that alcohol harms disproportionately fall on our most deprived communities, it would be perverse to claim that we should increase its availability in order to tackle discrimination or inequality.

“This study shows that the case for changing the law to allow alcohol in Scottish football grounds would be weak at any time but increasing availability of alcohol in the current context would be plain wrong.

“Football, and sport more generally, is a fantastic way of improving health and wellbeing. Many clubs run health initiatives for fans.

“Encouraging alcohol consumption runs completely counter to these goals.

“There’s a real opportunity for football to show leadership by re-evaluating the sport’s relationship with alcohol more broadly, by demonstrating that fans don’t need alcohol to enjoy the match, and ensuring their sport is truly open to all, family friendly and health-promoting.”