A new trial will see fans allowed to drink alcohol within sight of the pitch (Image: GETTY)
Four clubs in the Women’s Championship will allow fans to drink alcohol in the stands as part of a new pilot scheme, which is being implemented this month.
Drinking within sight of the pitch is currently banned in the top five tiers of the men’s game, but the legislation does not cover women’s football.
The trial will take place at , , and at up to five matches in the second half of the season. During the selected games, fans will be permitted to drink alcohol in view of the pitch.
Supporters will get their first chance to take part in the scheme when Bristol City face London City Lionesses on January 19. Southampton’s home game against Sunderland on the same day will also see fans allowed to drink in the stands.
Supporters in the men’s game have been banned from drinking in view of the pitch for 40 years (Image: GETTY)
The following week, it will be trialled at Birmingham’s game against Bristol City and in ‘s home fixture against Portsmouth.
Nikki Doucet, chief executive of the Women’s Professional Leagues Limited (WPLL), confirmed the trials would be taking place back in October.
“We are testing that in a couple of teams in the Championship this season and we’ll see what we learn from that,” she said.
“I think our fan base and the behaviour is different [to the men’s game] and I think ultimately it’s about being able to give our fans choices, while obviously maintaining the safety and what we need to do in terms of being responsible.”
Drinking in view of the pitch has been banned in men’s football for nearly four decades, with Margaret Thatcher’s government introducing the legislation in the 1980s in a bid to combat hooliganism.
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It seems unlikely that a similar trial will be taking place in the men’s game any time soon. Two years ago, MPs were warned that families would be soaked in ‘lager shampoos’ during goal celebrations if the ban was lifted.
Giving evidence at a digital, culture, media and sport select committee, Cheshire Police chief constable Mark Roberts said: “People would still drink to excess outside, but then arrive and carry on drinking, so you’d afford them 90 minutes extra time to drink.
“More alcohol causes more problems. You’d have that many problems, they’d have to pay for more police in stadiums to deal with the issues. You then have the issues of people throwing beer in the air, which you see all the time at Boxpark and the like.
“So if you’re there with the family, and every time a goal goes in you get a lager shampoo, it doesn’t make it conducive to going.”