Alcohol at football

Low_Key said:
I went to Orlando City a few years back and they had handy drinks holders attached to the rail seat barriers. very convenient. also blokes selling cans out of coolers in the concourses. bars close after 80 minutes though
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When I've been to Twickenham and Murrayfield, they had lads wandering about the concourse with big kegs on their backs and a hose (very similar to a weed sprayer) you could buy beer from.

There are no issues in the stands with beer being thrown when a try is scored as I mentioned in my earlier post (The only concern I would have is if clowns throw it in the air when a goal is scored) and what @GibbosEmpire mentions in his.
 
Norman_Conquest said:
When I've been to Twickenham and Murrayfield, they had lads wandering about the concourse with big kegs on their backs and a hose (very similar to a weed sprayer) you could buy beer from.

There are no issues in the stands with beer being thrown when a try is scored as I mentioned in my earlier post (The only concern I would have is if clowns throw it in the air when a goal is scored) and what @GibbosEmpire mentions in his.
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The rugby atmosphere is very different and healthier on the whole. Mixing with opposition fans is the norm and there are hardly ever any issues (I almost typed never, which isn't quite accurate these days).

I'm pretty sure beer would be thrown when a goal went in.

I wouldn't consider taking a very young relative to a game now. Sad isn't it?
 
Hap said:
The rugby atmosphere is very different and healthier on the whole. Mixing with opposition fans is the norm and there are hardly ever any issues (I almost typed never, which isn't quite accurate these days).

I'm pretty sure beer would be thrown when a goal went in.

I wouldn't consider taking a very young relative to a game now. Sad isn't it?
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Some years back, I took my son (aged 16) to watch Scotland v England at Murrayfield and I was explaining to him about the piper on the roof and how the hairs on the back of your neck stand up when they sing 'O'flower of Cotland.'

When the piper started the lad behind us had his hands on my son's shoulders and playfully pushed him forward with every syllable and winked at me when I turned to see what was happening. My son crapped himself (thinking of football) but this guy continued until the end. 20 minutes into the game he's got a pint of beer that these fellas had bought him.

Could you imagine that happening at the football?
 
The last rugby game I tried to go to, resulted in me and two mates not even making it to the stadium.

We got adopted by a bar full of French rugby fans, in Pasteur, and they wouldn't let us leave - even though we had tickets. I had one of the funniest and best night's, that I can (just about) remember, rounded off with us having a scrum in the middle of the bar, against three of the France first team, who turned up at the bar after the match, and overseen by Guy Laporte.

That happened... bizarre... :)

The bar was called Au Metro and seemed to just about be the only rugby themed bar in Paris. I can recommend it.

 
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TheYorkshireTerrier said:
I've never understood the need to have a big booze up at a match, for a number of reasons, but going down to queue early and missing 10 minutes of the first half so you can get and finish a pint during half times just doesn't make sense to me.
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I don't think it helps the atmosphere either.
No beer sold at AP during my time there.

Personally, booze just makes me sleepy, and I don't like it in the afternoon. I know it affects people differently, but it certainly make me less inclined to sing
If fans are drinking, they're not singing.
If they're holding pints, they're not clapping.
IF fans are up and down to get a beer or go to the bog every 15 minutes, you're going to see less of the match.
 
Frozen Horse said:
I don't think it helps the atmosphere either.
No beer sold at AP during my time there.

Personally, booze just makes me sleepy, and I don't like it in the afternoon. I know it affects people differently, but it certainly make me less inclined to sing
If fans are drinking, they're not singing.
If they're holding pints, they're not clapping.
IF fans are up and down to get a beer or go to the bog every 15 minutes, you're going to see less of the match.
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I would argue a high percentage of fans have rushed to the game and got there just before kick-off due to work commitments and would love to have a pint to wash the dust out of their throats. Being able to take it up to their seats instead of rushing it would be a far better experience for them.
 
Maybe leave the bar opening times the same but let people go to there seats to have a beer rather than stand in a busy concourse
 
It’s bad enough when drunk idiots who don’t normally sit near me come in and spend the 20 mins each half they sit there why they don’t go to every game…

I’d hate sitting next to idiots when we score if they had a beer in their hand…
 
It's a weird one ...
Most of the rest of sport can easily drink whilst watching the game .
Darts is hardly a sober affair, neither cricket, or rugby... They're probably more booze oriented as a sporting event.

Countries with better atmospheres at football allow drinking at your seat.
Countries with worse football violence, both inside and outside the ground , still don't have a thing of throwing pints when scoring.

Part of me thinks some people have out grown their booze fueled sports watching.
They like a clap along to pig bag , and watching the game in a pretty much sanitized experience.
And I sort of get it ..
But it's not how most of us ' fell in love ' with the match day ..
The safe and smoke free/ vape free , booze free , view free , swearing free , option was available at Ayresome park?

So maybe, like abroad, there's stands where you ' do ' and stands where you ' don't ' ?

There's been literally no violence inside the ground, between fans for at least a decade.
Don't think having a pint whilst watching would change a thing tbh .

It's quite simple with the CCTV , throw anything at the players , or other fans ... Five year ban.
 
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People take cups of coke/water etc into the stands and dont throw them about when we score, not that ive seen anyway. You'd have to be mental to pay them prices for a pint then throwing it.

I dont get the argument of it will make more drunks in the stadium, people are talking as if itll be like a free bar and it will send fans into a bingeing frenzy. Plus clubs are pretty on the ball with ejecting people for not much these days.

In Germany for example, you only really see the beer throwing on a big goal, last minute goal, and thats only really in the terrace/ultras stands. Theres something weirdly wonderful about being showered in a bit of beer when your team has came back from 2 goals down late on.
 
outoftown said:
It's a weird one ...
Most of the rest of sport can easily drink whilst watching the game .
Darts is hardly a sober affair, neither cricket, or rugby... They're probably more booze oriented as a sporting event.

Countries with better atmospheres at football allow drinking at your seat.
Countries with worse football violence, both inside and outside the ground , still don't have a thing of throwing pints when scoring.

Part of me thinks some people have out grown their booze fueled sports watching.
They like a clap along to pig bag , and watching the game in a pretty much sanitized experience.
And I sort of get it ..
But it's not how most of us ' fell in love ' with the match day ..
The safe and smoke free/ vape free , booze free , view free , swearing free , option was available at Ayresome park?

So maybe, like abroad, there's stands where you ' do ' and stands where you ' don't ' ?

There's been literally no violence inside the ground, between fans for at least a decade.
Don't think having a pint whilst watching would change a thing tbh .

It's quite simple with the CCTV , throw anything at the players , or other fans ... Five year ban.
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Have you seen the state of darts? Every time someone hits a double 20 it looks like a load of pints get chucked in the air.

It's carnage if someone hits a 180.
 
BlindBoyGrunt said:
Works fine in Germany.
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Yes was about to say this.

I often go to the football in Germany and really enjoy standing and having a beer.
As mentioned, I don’t know how well it would work in UK, but for context, you would buy a beer (500ml) and pay 6€…it’s in a plastic recyclable beaker…you have the option of taking it back and retrieving a euro….or, what is much more common, the beakers get thrown to the front of the stand and the young kids line up and scramble after them. Some kids have huge towers stacked during the game and take them all back to cash them in…no littering.

I don’t know if it’s a cultural thing but not much beer gets wasted by lobbing it in the air after a goal.

Have to admit however that you can get the odd wayward beaker hitting your bonce thrown from further back.
 
MikeSkinner said:
People take cups of coke/water etc into the stands and dont throw them about when we score, not that ive seen anyway. You'd have to be mental to pay them prices for a pint then throwing it.

I dont get the argument of it will make more drunks in the stadium, people are talking as if itll be like a free bar and it will send fans into a bingeing frenzy. Plus clubs are pretty on the ball with ejecting people for not much these days.

In Germany for example, you only really see the beer throwing on a big goal, last minute goal, and thats only really in the terrace/ultras stands. Theres something weirdly wonderful about being showered in a bit of beer when your team has came back from 2 goals down late on.
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People probably wouldn't like beer over their kids on a cold night though. We had some people behind us sneaking pints into the stand on boxing day. They were up and down all game to the toilets, one of them kicked theirs over and it was running down under my son's seat. Not huge issues, just irritating.
I like the concept, but it ultimately just think the negatives outweigh the positives just for the sake of people having a pint. It definitely works elsewhere though, but thats the case with a lot of things around drinking.
 
outoftown said:
Part of me thinks some people have out grown their booze fueled sports watching.
They like a clap along to pig bag , and watching the game in a pretty much sanitized experience.
And I sort of get it ..
But it's not how most of us ' fell in love ' with the match day ..
The safe and smoke free/ vape free , booze free , view free , swearing free , option was available at Ayresome park?
Click to expand...

I think football fans are a very broad church.

There should be room for the old school lads, the ultras, the families, the old timers who want to watch the match without a load of bobbing up and down to see over the head of the excitable young t*t in front of him.

It's a mistake of any of these groups to think "I do it the right way, and everyone should do it like me", or to try and impose their way of doing in on others.

Ideally, we should know which stand to go in for the experience we want.

We can get misty eyed about how it used to be, but it wasn't always great. In the 80s, the hooligan element had alienated other groups of fans leading to low levels of attendance across the country.

As for sanitised, my first league match was away at Hull in 88. Big old away end: 4-5k Boro fans there. Away toilets: 2. The terrace was a cascade of **** by the second half as fans went at the back of the terrace as there was nowhere else to go. Nothing to miss in that.
 
Doom_On_Horseback said:
Yes was about to say this.

I often go to the football in Germany and really enjoy standing and having a beer.
As mentioned, I don’t know how well it would work in UK, but for context, you would buy a beer (500ml) and pay 6€…it’s in a plastic recyclable beaker…you have the option of taking it back and retrieving a euro….or, what is much more common, the beakers get thrown to the front of the stand and the young kids line up and scramble after them. Some kids have huge towers stacked during the game and take them all back to cash them in…no littering.

I don’t know if it’s a cultural thing but not much beer gets wasted by lobbing it in the air after a goal.

Have to admit however that you can get the odd wayward beaker hitting your bonce thrown from further back.
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Unfortunately, I don't think anyone who is thick enough to throw a pint in the air is bothered about the quid deposit for the beaker.

I remember seeing someone at Eindhoven queue for about 20 mins to get to the bar in the fan zone. Bought 2 pints. Walked away from the bar and Rocking all over the World came on. He poured one pint on his own head and shot the other up in the air.

Instantly went straight back to the queue.
 
B_G said:
Unfortunately, I don't think anyone who is thick enough to throw a pint in the air is bothered about the quid deposit for the beaker.

I remember seeing someone at Eindhoven queue for about 20 mins to get to the bar in the fan zone. Bought 2 pints. Walked away from the bar and Rocking all over the World came on. He poured one pint on his own head and shot the other up in the air.

Instantly went straight back to the queue.
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Madness!

Maybe that’s the answer to the question ‘why isn’t it applied in the UK?’ 😄
 
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