How Scottish football fans reacted to alcohol pilot scheme

The Herald Scotland

14-07-2025

Free to enjoy a pre-match beer on the concourse at Murrayfield, Anfield or Old Trafford, supping ale at Gayfield was forbidden until their local club were granted a licence to sell alcohol before Saturday's Premier Sports Cup win over St Mirren as part of a new pilot scheme.
Roped off like the VIP area of a Soho nightclub, alcohol went on sale in a 'Madri fanzone' between 11am and 2.45pm, and post-match until 7.30pm.
Restricted to home supporters, Arbroath's biggest fans were first in the queue for a pre-match pint as Cyndi Lauper boomed out over the sound system.
Girls, it turned out, were not the only ones who wanted to have fun. To ensure no one got carried away, fans with entry tickets were restricted to four pints before the game and five in total – with half a dozen stewards in hi-vis jackets there to make sure no one enjoyed themselves a little too much.
'It's hugely important that nobody takes the mickey with this,' said Beattie, a senior finance manager in the area. 'We just have to enjoy it for what it is and keep calm.
'We have friends in England and every year we go down to see games in Manchester and Liverpool and have a drink.
'Up here we're not even allowed to have a drink on our football buses to Arbroath away games.
'This is an opportunity we've been waiting for for over 40 years so it has to be done right.'
A consequence of the Hampden riot between fans of Celtic and Rangers at the 1980 Scottish Cup final, supporters have always been able to drink in the sanctuary of hospitality suites. A luxury restricted to those who can afford to pay, the ability of Murrayfield rugby fans and Hampden concert goers to drink freely inside both venues recently promoted St Johnstone owner Adam Webb to brand the treatment of Scottish football fans 'discriminatory' and 'offensive'.
Innes – known to all and sundry as 'Fermer' – agrees, but understands why politicians remain nervous over the issue.
'You see rugby fans being able to have a drink and it feels discriminatory,' he said. 'The only point here is that we as football fans brought that upon ourselves. So now we have to put that right. Everybody has to be sensible, irrespective of the score.
'I'm 57 and I can't remember a day when you could have a drink outside in a Scottish stadium.
'We are local and it's a nice novelty to come and have a wee beer before the game. A Saturday out at the football is a big part of peoples' life. A couple of pints before the game and a couple of pints after it. That's it.
'The way Scottish football is now, every club wants a wee bit of money and this will enhance the matchday experience.'
Arbroath fans as a ban on alcohol in Scottish football stadiums is lifted as part of a pilot scheme (Image: Sammy Turner - SNS Group)
While their devotion to the Red Lichties is beyond question, the two men admit to some inner conflict.
Directly facing Gayfield's Main Stand is the legendary Tuttie's Neuk Inn, the howff run by lifelong Arbroath fan Carol Shand and the meeting point for fans taking the bus to away games.
Landlords of pubs such as Tuttie's stand to lose most from a relaxation on alcohol restrictions in football grounds. So close to the stadium that fans used to nip out for a half-time pint in days gone by, a smattering of travelling St Mirren fans continued to sip pints before their team lost a penalty shoot-out in the first weekend of Premier Sports Cup action.
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While a sickness bug prevented Shand from airing her views on the pilot scheme, Arbroath chief executive Paul Reid offers an assurance that the club plan to work hand in hand with the local hostelries to ensure that takings don't take a major hit.
'As a community club it's important to us that we are not affecting the trade of the local pubs,' says Reid. 'They have been big supporters to us over the years and we have done this in conjunction with them.
'And if this was to be a permanent arrangement, we would probably look to do something with Tutties across the road to try and make sure we both benefit. All we want to do want is enhance the matchday experience.'
A commercial executive with Dundee United for 22 years, Reid expects the impact of alcohol sales on Arbroath's revenue to be modest. Located yards from the North Sea, Gayfield is a venue where a ball kicked over the stand roof on a January day is likely to finish up in the Netherlands.
'Are people going to stand outside in January in the freezing cold of Gayfield having a pint? Probably not here,' Reid reasoned. 'Bigger clubs have indoor concourses where they can sell drink and we don't have that.
'But I have been in football since 1999 and one of the great taboo subjects has been getting drink back into Scottish football.
'We need to be given the opportunity to show that it can work and something that happened 40 years ago shouldn't determine whether people drink at football now.
'I think we need a chance to show that fans can be trusted and that we can do it in the right way.
'The clubs are all involved to make sure it's right and the fans will be on board as well because it is a privilege and we don't want it to be taken away.
'The SPFL have done a lot of work with the Scottish Government to allow us to host this pilot and we don't want to let Scottish football down.
'We know there will be a lot of scrutiny on all of the clubs doing this, be it us or Ross County, Ayr United or anyone.
'We just want to show that we have enough about us to offer fans a better matchday experience in a safe and controlled environment.'
For Beattie and Innes the hope is that away fans travelling to low-risk games will be allowed to sup side by side with matchday rivals. Senior figures within the SPFL hope for a further relaxation of the rules after the Scottish Parliament elections next year, a scenario contingent on a successful pilot scheme.
'When we go to grounds like Morton or Airdrie where there are no pubs near the ground, it would be good to get in early and enjoy a beer and donate the money to the club,' reflects Beattie.
'At this level of football there's no aggro with away fans here. We get welcomed everywhere we go.'
Where drink at football goes, debate usually follows. So it was for the first patrons of the Madri Fanzone.
'Drink will not make the game any better,' ponders Fermer. 'But it will make the atmosphere better.'
Interjecting, Beattie contradicts his old pal.
'Let's not kid ourselves here. We watch Arbroath and it might actually make the game a good bit better…'