Andy Burnham has called for a rethink of the 41-year-old law that prevents fans in the top five tiers of English football from drinking alcohol in sight of the pitch, arguing that supporters of the game are treated differently from spectators at rugby, cricket or a concert.
“I don’t think it’s fair for football fans to be singled out in that way and I made that point,” the Prime Minister said.
“That legislation dates to an era where football was very different, and I do believe there is a case to remove that discrimination.”
Burnham did not commit to a change in the law, but floated a pilot as one route forward.
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“There are different ways it could be done. It could happen on a trial basis.”
A rule from the hooligan era
The restriction sits in the Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc.) Act 1985, passed under Margaret Thatcher’s government at a time when English football was defined internationally by crowd trouble. The Act was steered through by then Home Secretary Leon Brittan, who called alcohol a “major contributory factor in violent and disorderly behaviour” inside grounds.
The law applies to the top five tiers of English football, from the Premier League down to the National League. Fans can buy a pint on the concourse, but must leave the sight of the pitch before drinking it. No comparable restriction covers rugby union, rugby league or cricket.
The women’s game has already moved
The immediate precedent for change lies in the women’s game. WSL Football approved dropping the same rule from its competition regulations from the 2026-27 season, after an 18-month pilot that ran across 20 clubs, 29 venues and 190 fixtures. The trial began in the second tier in January 2025, with Birmingham City, Bristol City, Newcastle United and Southampton, before expanding to include Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United.
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Of more than 4,000 supporters surveyed, the share in favour of letting fans choose to drink in the stands rose from 58 per cent in summer 2025 to 69 per cent after the 2025-26 season.
Fan group backs Burnham, police push back
Tom Greatrex, chair of the Football Supporters’ Association, welcomed the intervention, saying the FSA has always argued it is unfair to criminalise football fans for having a beer at the match when a spectator can sit in the same seat and drink through a rugby league game or an Oasis concert.
The UK Football Policing Unit was more cautious. It said other sports “simply don’t see the violence and criminal behaviour from their supporters that football does, albeit a minority, with alcohol often playing a significant part,” and asked to meet the Prime Minister before any change to the law is considered.
No formal consultation on lifting the ban has been announced, and any change to the 1985 Act would need to go through Parliament before it could reach stadiums.
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