The ban on alcohol inside Scottish football grounds which was introduced after the riot at the 1980 Scottish Cup final between Celtic and Rangers at Hampden has been directly responsible for crowd trouble at matches in this country, it has been claimed.
And amending the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995 – which superseded and strengthened the restrictions of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980 - and allowing fans to drink inside stadiums may help to stop missile throwing and pitch invasions and protect players, match officials and coaching staff.
MSPs at Holyrood have repeatedly stated that supporter unrest at major fixtures like the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup quarter-final at Ibrox in March and the William Hill Premiership decider at Parkhead on Saturday highlights why the 45 year old booze ban needs to remain in place.
An independent investigation into the reasons for the shocking scenes in Govan - hundreds of fans invaded the pitch and clashed in the worst crowd trouble witnessed in this country since the Scottish Cup final in 2016 - is currently being carried out.
A member of the Celtic coaching staff and players were attacked during the affray.
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And there have been calls for an inquiry into the league match in the East End of Glasgow at the weekend after several of the Tynecastle club’s players were accosted by supporters who had encroached onto the playing surface to celebrate the home team’s 3-1 triumph.
First Minister John Swinney has admitted that he is “not sympathetic” to clubs which want to increase their income amid a challenging financial climate by selling alcohol in concourses at matches despite senior Police Scotland officials stating they are willing to consider pilot projects.
But Geoff Pearson, a law professor at the University of Manchester who is an internationally renowned expert in policing and crowd regulation in football, believes the ban actually leads to excessive drinking and can cause problems like glass bottles being hurled from the stands and pitch invasions.
Asked if he thought the Unauthorised Entry to Football Matches Act 2026 which came in to force in England and Wales last month would prove effective in tackling tailgating, he said, “With the introduction of any new offence, you need to speak to the fans, you need to think about the impact it's going to have, you need to ask if potentially it could have an adverse effect on crowd behaviour.
“We certainly saw that south of the border with the alcohol restrictions that were brought in back in 1985 (the Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol Act etc) 1985). So we should never rush to think that bringing in a criminal offence is going to be the solution.
“Scotland was years ahead of England and Wales in terms of the alcohol ban because of the Scottish Cup final in 1980. But the problem in Scotland was actually less alcohol consumption, it was more the fact that people were bringing their own bottles into the ground and were then lobbing them at their rivals when they had finished them.
“There was a missile-throwing problem north of the border that we didn't actually have south of the border. People would certainly drink heavily here before they went into matches, but they didn't tend to be carrying cans and bottles and then throwing them. The problem in England and Wales was different.
“But the government just rushed through a panic law following the Heysel Disaster in 1985. The result of that was that people started drinking far more before they went into matches. That led to problems and it wasn't necessary for us to take the steps you took in Scotland.”
Fans of clubs which are in the top five leagues in England and Wales can drink alcohol which is sold by clubs inside grounds at certain times and in specific areas – in stadium concourses and hospitality suites which are not in view of the pitch before kick-off and at half-time.
However, Professor Pearson has witnessed how that has caused a number of issues and believes that serious consideration should be given by the authorities to allowing spectators to drink in their seats during matches the way they can at other major sporting events.
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“We started getting problems because once people had their pint they couldn't go back to their seats at half-time to finish it off,” he said. “So there were severe public order problems that occurred in concourses in England and Wales.
“There have been some pilots. In the women's game, they've reintroduced the ability to drink within view of the pitch. There has been talk about pilots in the lower leagues as well. But at the moment the legislation from 1985 is still on the statute even though everybody knows it doesn't work and can actually make things worse.
“There is absolutely an argument for lifting the alcohol ban. You have to break this down because there are different things that are criminalised. It's a criminal offence to take alcohol on transport that has been chartered to go to a match. That's a bad law. That clearly has a very problematic effect when it comes to managing that on a match day.
“It's also a criminal offence to drink alcohol within sight of the pitch. Again, that's a bad law. It leads to people binge drinking before matches and to crushes in concourses.
“We also have the rule that if you're drunk you shouldn't be allowed entrance to a football ground. So I can see why people would want to retain that law, why that would still be important. I could also see why you would want to retain the ban on people bringing their own alcohol into the ground.
“But when you're reforming a law, you have to check the whole thing out and say, ‘Well, what works and what doesn't work?’. Some of the arguments against reforming alcohol legislation have been, ‘We don't want people bringing their own alcohol into the ground and we don't want people to be able to get a drink at all times’.
“But reforming the law doesn't mean that those outcomes are going to occur. What we need is an evidence-based approach to what laws work in football, what laws don't work and what laws potentially are needed in addition to what we've got.
“Unfortunately, football has been an area where it's just been knee-jerk reaction upon knee-jerk reaction by a number of governments, particularly south of the border. That has led to bad law or law that's completely unenforceable.”
Professor Pearson continued, “It would have to be a longer-term change. If you allow people to drink within sight of the pitch, it would need to be a decision made by the local police force and council safety advisory group.
“You might decide for an Old Firm game, for example, that actually you're not going to serve alcohol in the away sections to start off with, but you're going to do it in the more expensive seats. You would work with the fans and open bars in some stands.
“There will probably be some instances where people will chuck some plastic pint pots and a few people will get very wet. That is not ideal. But if that happens you close the bars and say, ‘If you can’t be trusted to behave then this is what happens’. Hopefully over time the supporter culture around alcohol changes.”
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The trouble which flared after Celtic had beaten Rangers on penalties at Ibrox last month led to calls for greater punishments for troublemakers and for the proposed changes to the wording of the Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2006 – which will make it easier for the courts to issue Football Banning Orders - to be pushed through at Holyrood.
Concerned SFA and SPFL officials and MSPs are hopeful that increasing the reach of football banning orders will help to address a number of issues which have arisen in the modern game, like pyrotechnic use and online hate crime, and make matches safer for spectators to attend.
It has also emerged that the SPFL are going to speak to the Scottish government about the possibility of introducing legislation which makes tailgating and invading the pitch designated criminal offences in this country.
But Professor Pearson believes that working with ultra groups and supporter organisations will help to curb anti-social conduct inside and outside of grounds far more effectively and feels that relaxing alcohol restrictions should be examined in depth.
“There has to be a bit of give and take here,” he said. “There has to be a carrot and a stick. What are you going to give fans if they behave the way you want? At the moment, you aren’t giving them cheaper ticket prices or good kick-off times. It is becoming harder and harder to be a home and away supporter. There are more and more activities they aren’t allowed to do.
“So why don’t we start thinking about how we can make football matches more pleasurable, more enjoyable. How can we improve atmospheres? How can we use what fans want to stop them doing what we don’t want them to do?
“That is why we need to have a serious conversation about alcohol because it is a carrot that can potentially by used. Dialogue is absolutely fundamental. Unfortunately, supporters’ groups aren’t listened to enough when it comes to policy. I would like decision makers to listen to them far more.”
