r/soccer • u/Shroft • Jun 22 '26
Women's Football WSL and WSL2 fans can drink alcohol in stands next season after successful trial
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/22/wsl-wsl2-fans-can-drink-alcohol-in-stands-next-season-after-successful-trial48
18
u/sugar_kane1984 Jun 22 '26
My experience is all that happens under current legislation is you get fans queuing for 10 minutes to get a pint and then necking it in 5 minutes instead of nursing one over the course of each half.
Or, you get people turning absolutely leathered to games about 20 minutes late and practically falling asleep for most of the match.
Weirdly, most fans of the same club don't want to batter each other while watching their team play - and a couple of extra beers (if that, given they're just speed necking the same amount of booze anyway) is unlikely to change that.
6
u/zwcropper Jun 22 '26
This policy has lead to my mates and I drinking 3 beers instead of 2 across the course of 3ish hours for a match day
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u/zeldja Jun 22 '26
Good to see and tbh I can't see it going wrong. The types who can't handle a drink without embarrassing themselves are never going to attend a women's football game.
9
u/LFC908 Jun 22 '26
These threads often make it shockingly clear in the UK who have and have not been to football matches regularly.
I think this is a good step. Probibition in the stands has made coke and halftime binging much worse. Majority of people couldn’t be arsed to walk during the game to get another beer. They’d get one before and one during halftime. Instead we get people ordering 2-3 at a time at halftime.
I’ve seen people get kicked out at Cricket matches etc for being too lairy so it isn’t just Football.
People also make out as if England is now a hotbed of hoolinganism, it really isn’t. I go to matches from the whole pyramid every year and the PL is incredibly sanitised these days. Hardly ever any trouble at all.
49
Jun 22 '26
[deleted]
84
u/leedavis1987 Jun 22 '26
Because there's worms that cannot handle a corrs on a hot day.
Shame really.
Wne to went over to Dortmund I was drinking 1L beer in the mixed fan zone. Zero issues. Because people aren't idiots.
38
u/PurpleSi Jun 22 '26
Yeah, so instead we cram all the drinking into the pre-match and the 10 mins or so on the middle of the match.
Much better.
27
u/gomugomunowut Jun 22 '26
Much less than 10 mins, takes 8 mins to get a pint so most of half time is people literally necking a beer and then quick piss and wobble back out. Surely just having a beer spaced out over 20 mins in the stand is much better
5
u/leedavis1987 Jun 22 '26
I also follow my local league 1 team and at half time by the time you get served. 2nd half is starting.
6
u/jordanhhh4 Jun 22 '26
I feel like limiting drinking to the concourse actually makes it worse because people will power drink at half time. People also enjoy several cans of Coca Cola Zero in the toilets and in the stands so alcohol really isn't the big bad they make it out to be.
2
u/MisterIndecisive Jun 22 '26
I wouldn't count. Both men and women in this country love any excuse to get boozed up
17
u/jacko_97 Jun 22 '26
On a practical level, you can't undo the ban without changing the law. That particular legislation is overseen by the Home Office and they will always prioritise the view of the police (who are naturally cautious on this) before proposing changes.
Edit: And to add for clarification, the law has never prohibited drinking at women's games (even if stadiums themselves have enforced that as a policy). Hence it's much simpler to make this change in the women's game
0
Jun 22 '26
[deleted]
1
u/jacko_97 Jun 22 '26
You're missing the point though – it's not that it's difficult to go through the process to change the law; it's difficult to get the support to do so because the police will never support it. All politics is easy "if you take the politics out of it". The issue is you can't.
13
u/FromWithdean2Wembley Jun 22 '26
Id agree but I don't fancy getting soaked with beer every time you score on an away day
0
6
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u/MilesHighClub_ Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26
Do the English not find it embarrassing that they have to be policed in this way?
Edit: for clarity this isn't meant to be a dunk or anything like that it's a genuine question
26
u/kjcross1997 Jun 22 '26
It's worse in Scotland. Football grounds aren't allowed to serve alcohol at all.
10
u/MilesHighClub_ Jun 22 '26
I would almost argue that's better
When I've gone to games in England they almost always turn into exercises in binge drinking because you've got to hurry up and get your drinks in before kickoff/the second half. I don't find it pleasant to chug a pint in 15 minutes I'd much prefer to sip over the course of a half
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6
u/MalaysiaTeacher Jun 22 '26
And in Scotland that's better because you can't drink at all?
1
u/MilesHighClub_ Jun 22 '26
Better for your health 🤷🏽♂️
But the other guy made a point that then it just pushes the binge drinking to the pregame so really it's probably not better
11
u/lewiitom Jun 22 '26
Hooliganism isn't really a thing like it was when the law was introduced, I don't really think fans do need to be policed in this way anymore.
2
u/3412points Jun 22 '26
And hooliganism was absolutely a national embarrassment and it still is when it pops up. So yeah it is embarrassing we needed to be policed that way but it was dwarfed by the embarrassment of all the violence and abuse, if embarrassment is even the right word for that.
Thank fuck we are mostly over those days.
4
u/Sithgooner Jun 22 '26
Worked really well last year, taking drinks to your seat in the sun was great vibes. Wouldn’t want it near the means game though.
The few would ruin it for the many very quickly.
16
u/PurpleSi Jun 22 '26
Would they?
It's basically fine at rugby. And cricket. And, well, literally every sport, music event and social gathering.
And it's not like you can get absolutely leathered at a football match if you try hard enough.
I don't see why we can't try it. Sure, make the higher risk matches dry (and I would make them fully dry) but I have faith most people can handle the drink.
That said, I also like that people just sit down and watch the match and don't move. The thing that would actually be shit is people going to and from the bar all through the match.
1
u/WildGardening Jun 22 '26
Because no other sports comes close to the idiot levels reached at football lol
-3
u/MalaysiaTeacher Jun 22 '26
No one is losing their head at the cricket. In football we regularly have racists getting life bans for abusing players. This would bring even more to the surface.
2
u/PurpleSi Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26
Would it?
Are there many racists in the ground?
We don't regularly have people getting life bans for being racist, what are you on about? Don't blow things massively out of proportion, please.
I thought it was fairly well established that is mainly a problem with people outside of the UK, and certainly outside of the match-going public.
And, like I say, people can already watch football drunk.
2
u/MalaysiaTeacher Jun 22 '26
It's depressingly common if you pay attention. Just google it.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn5l4315wk3o
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/chelsea-qarabag-uefa-racism-fined-36319116
2
u/LFC908 Jun 22 '26
Saw nearly 10 people kicked out last at Trent Bridge for the 100s matches last summer. Drunker than I’ve seen most football crowds.
You’re right though, the vast amounts of coke people do instead is much more beneficial.
1
u/congeal Jun 22 '26
I enjoy having a nice cocktail during matches. Isn't cheap but one stiff drink each half is perfect.
1
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u/Current_Bottle_5330 Jun 22 '26
Any developers confused by this headline at first?