Andy Burnham has renewed his call for football supporters in England and Wales to be allowed to drink alcohol in the stands, arguing that the long-standing ban marks the game’s followers out from supporters of other sports.
In the dressing room
The Labour Prime Minister, an Everton supporter, restated his view while in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. Asked whether he still believed fans should be able to take a drink to their seats, Burnham said he did.
He said football crowds should not face different treatment from other sports, describing the present rules as a form of discrimination. In his view, the law belongs to a very different era for the English game and there is a case for removing it.
| Issue | Position |
|---|---|
| Current restriction | Alcohol cannot be consumed in the stands at matches in England and Wales |
| Introduced | 1985 |
| Competition level covered | The top five divisions |
| Government position | No specific plan currently in place to change the law |
A rule from a harder time
The restriction was brought in by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government in 1985, during a period when football-related disorder was a major concern. It applies to the five highest divisions in England and Wales, while other parts of the United Kingdom set their own arrangements.
Burnham’s intervention does not amount to an immediate legislative move. Government figures have since said there are no concrete proposals to revisit the existing ban, despite the Prime Minister’s personal support for change.
Fans welcome the opening
The Football Supporters’ Association has welcomed Burnham’s remarks. It pointed to successful trials in women’s football in which supporters have been permitted to drink in the seating areas.
For the FSA, those experiments offer evidence that football can look again at a rule which has remained in place for four decades. The argument is not simply about a pint at half-time, but whether football should continue to be treated as an exception.
Police urge caution
The Football Policing Unit has taken the opposite view, warning that changing the rules without proper consultation with policing bodies would be highly unwise.
Its representatives are prepared to meet Burnham to set out what they see as the operational challenges, including the safety of staff and supporters. The unit said other sports do not experience the same level of crowd violence and criminal behaviour associated with football, even if it involves only a minority of fans. Alcohol, it added, often plays a significant part in violent incidents and disorder.
The week ahead may bring no vote, no Bill and no sudden change at the turnstiles. But Burnham’s comments have put an old football argument back on the fixture list: whether the game is still paying for the worst habits of an earlier age, or whether the risks identified by police remain too serious to ignore.
