Comment by j45
1 month ago
No alcohol and physical segregation at the seats seems quite foreign compared to maybe just being able to handle one’s self around alcohol.
It’s one way to say hooliganism in the past I guess.
1 month ago
No alcohol and physical segregation at the seats seems quite foreign compared to maybe just being able to handle one’s self around alcohol.
It’s one way to say hooliganism in the past I guess.
There will always be idiots, regardless of whether alcohol is involved or not, but I'm talking about the levels of hooliganism that were rife in the 80s and 90s, the things that got alcohol banned (when in view of the pitch) at football matches.
That level of hooliganism at games and around the stadiums is a mostly a thing of the past.
The days of open brawls in the stands that you saw in the 80s/90s are gone, you just get the occasional bit of jostling nowadays if that. (I used to do stewarding back in the late 90s and saw a lot of the bad side of things.)
The various "firms" that would meet up for their arranged pre-match fight have dwindled to almost nothing and now there is little fear for away fans walking to/from games. It used to be quite a scary prospect depending on the ground visited.
However, successive UK Governments have repeatedly kicked the can down the road when considering reversing the 1985 ban that stopped people having a drink in view of the pitch.
More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_in_association_footbal...
I don't think any UK political party has the bottle (pun intended) to reintroduce it, it would be a pretty divisive proposal and most political parties try to steer well clear of such things in today's politics.
Things are starting to change though. At some grounds you do have home and away fans mixing in the concourses (the Putney End of Fulham's ground for example) but most grounds in the top tiers are designed to keep home and away fans apart as much as possible.