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Alcohol in the stands?
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Govt looking to review whether to allow drinking in sight of the pitch at designated football matches.
Good idea?
Personally I dont want to be showered in weak lager every time we score by someone recreating boxpark for clicks.
I can see it creating issues on a terrace where social norms are already ignored by some.
I can drink before, at halftime and after a game. Going 45 minutes without one isn't an issue. We are all used to it now. Same as not smoking in the ground (fatty vape man is still an issue for Wasp I guess)
But serving drinks to grown ups, probably at a premium rate, in a designated premium seating area, and leaving the blinds open on boxes is a reasonable cash generating idea and shouldn't create stewarding issues.
But men with bladders the size of golf balls shuffling past people to go for a wee every 15 minutes will be more of a bloody nuisance than it is now.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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Not a grass but this already happens in the ET
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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Haha. Smuggled under a (goggle) hoodie?
Answer is "other sports are allowed, why not football." Leave it to clubs to manage implementation
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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Most safety advisory groups at L2-Championship level would keep alcohol off the terraces would be my guess.
(Are there any Championship clubs with operational terraces left? Posh and Yeovil had one I think back in the day).
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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On a cold day back on the day , when flasks were allowed, the odc Brandy went down well.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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Memories...no checks for anything at the entrance to the ET, just a lovely fella, at a table, to take your entrance fee. Always had his jack russel terrier (who wore a boro scarf around his/her collar) along side him. Deary, dear that was a few years ago! Oh, whilst I'm down memory lane...anyone remember the small group that played their musical instruments at the back of the terrace?
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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Remember it all ,the dog barked nearly the whole game.Moving on we then had the delights of Dave Wraight
serving in the portakabjn clubhouse bar and his non PC language, plus the SA travel sometimes being on the players coach .Different times but great memories.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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Hahaha, that portakabin... approx between the North Stand and the ET. We had drinks in there and mixed with all the players. Often chatted with Venables who was a full time PE teacher at Barclay. Will you stop jogging my memory Mr Hitchin...makes me feel old but all in all great times and nice to reminisce.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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Dave Venables and a previous Boro player, Dave Smith (also formerly Warwickshire CCC) also taught us PE at Barclay
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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That sounds like the Dave Smith that was my PE teacher at Heathcote in 92-97
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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Makes sense. Venables replaced him effectively
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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Last one on the memories thing, I promise,in those days Graham Challis run the SA (travel bit at least) ?
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Son of Ron Challis the ‘sponge man’.
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Did not know that but think Graham then lived in Chells area and worked at Stevenage Circuits.
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Martin R and Colin ? took this over I think
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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In theory I’m all for it because I wouldn’t personally abuse it. I’d just enjoy my pint while watching the game. In practice there’d be helmets chucking lager all over the place and ruining it for everyone else.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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This is definitely the issue. I don't drink, but would be happy for others to have a pint or two if it weren't for the danger of idiots chucking it around
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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Well try and resist throwing it around then.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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they'd have to have a cricket fielders arm to reach you... assuming you still sit well South of halfway
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I was in the north last time!
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The alcohol rules are fine as they are in my opinion. Some other sports could take a leaf out of football's book on this if anything.
However, rules for drinking in hospitality should be the same as for anywhere else in the ground.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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To have to go out of sight of the match for a beer is a beautiful respite when the product on the pitch is shite.
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We can at Royston. They have good beer.
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Yeah, it's nice being able to watch with a beer at that level, but is very different to what we would experience if introduced.
A lot cheaper too! Pints of Wonky Wader down Biggleswade Town is not only lovely, but only £4.20 a pint. Things like Asahi only a fiver down Biggleswade Utd too. Am sure all pints are £6.50+ in the 76 Lounge nowadays.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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£6.50 + a pint? Bloody hell. I should check the card reader before I blip next time I'm in a UK pub.
How can youngsters afford to get a hangover these days? £25 used to get me pissed and a kebab not that long ago, and I wasn't that much of a lightweight.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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The youngsters can't afford it.
A lot of local pubs seem to be dying a death to me.
But that could be down to changing attitudes and habits.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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Just too expensive to spend an evening in the local now, so no-one can afford to do it several nights a week, which is what kept them going. And those who could afford it spend their money on houses, cars and holidays instead.
We've all been conditioned by social media and housing programmes on tv to spend a fortune having the nicest house possible and lots of nice things in it/gardens, so why not spend all your time there inviting friends over for drinks, which have cost a fraction in the supermarket than they do in the pubs?
And now you can get kegs and perfect draft machines at home, cinema sized tvs, every football match and film on a firestick you paid £50 for, there's no reason to go out and spend a fortune on stuff you piss out an hour later
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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I can think of nothing worse than inviting people over to my house, thank you very much.
I am quite happy enjoying my Perfect Draft machine on my own, with just the lass and cats for company :).
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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What a machine, currently enjoying a fine Spaten Helles.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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I do like the German offerings in mine, Spaten and Lowenbrau.
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I’ve never found a decent fire stick. They all buffer for the big events
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I dont have one, but just about everyone i know does and they seem ok with them, other than the delay.
Even a pub in Magaluf last weekend was using one.
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I went to a good Irish bar in Magaluf. The owner did live music
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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Funnily enough this was an Irish bar, and it looked like they did live music in the evening as had all the set up and equipment for it
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I don’t see the point in having a cinema quality television and then watching football and films through a firestick.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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Its a good point, but isn't it all HD too?
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Not when it’s buffering it isn’t.
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A pint of diet coke/Pepsi is about £4 in most pubs now too!
Enough to make you feel you may as well just have a beer.
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A pint of coke/pepsi! Type 2 diabetes alert!
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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Oh that’s ok. Those ones a good for you.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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Or emigrate.
Pubs have always made more on soft drinks and mixers than beer thanks to tax as you would know better than I.
I begrudge paying a fiver for a zero % beer which I assume is taxed at the same rate as Coke...
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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Many young people don't drink alcohol much now. The percentage of non drinkers in the youngest age group is the highest it's been and lots opt for no or low alcohol alternatives.
Respect to the younger generation for that, although if they're drinking coffee instead they lose my respect again 🤣
At least smoking is dying out.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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Drugs are cheaper than alcohol, son used work down the old town, most of the youngsters come in off their tits and order soft drinks.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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Now you tell me!
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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Plenty of vaping inside the ground. Stewards turn a blind eye to it.
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Around that and shit, yes I would say that but go 100 yards up to to Mutual normally 3 Ales on at half the price.Plus the lager cheaper.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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Love a pint of Icebreaker in 76 Lounge. It comes with a hipster glass too
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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Definitely not in favour. Someone will launch a beer at the Lino on the East Terrace side and we'll be in a lot of bother.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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Nah, not in favour and not necessary. You can drink before, at HT, and after.
Would be more civilised in the Norf (though would still create more people walking along the row to get a drink/go for a piss than there currently is with people going to the bar on 40 mins or coming back on 60 mins or going for a mid-half piss, and spilling beer on you/on the floor which runs down the steps, which is not an issue for me in the back row at Boro home games but is annoying at the NFL when you cannot put anything on the floor through fear of it getting drenched), but I can imagine the terraces seeing people lobbing beer in the air during goals and annoying others in the process.
I don't foresee any extra drunkenness being an issue, not at our games at least, but can see the above leading to more issues, especially if people get covered in beer.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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They should clear out the back two rows of the north and install some of those automatic beer dispensing machines up there.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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They aren't so bad lately, but that would be funny with the stewards screaming at people to sit down as they stood pouring their pints.
I have been told to sit down by a steward more than once just as I stood up to scream at the ref/opposition player!
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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Probably a French steward.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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I'm agnostic on it as I've never seen it in practice in the UK. I almost certainly won't do it myself as the thing with drinking in the stands in Germany is they have German lager to do it with.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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I had a pint of Guinness sat in the stand at a WSL game recently. It was all very civilised. We’ll ignore the fact it was poured in one go without letting it settle.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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I don't mind drinking at a game, but beer in the stands is a fucking horrible idea.
Edited by IsleOfNate at 09:43:16 on 24th September 2026
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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Bad idea for reasons you have given.
Also it will add to the cost of going to football for those who want to drink during the game.
One difference between now and the 80s I guess is that we have more CCTV so could more easily identify anyone throwing beer or getting into fights and ban them. Then we might be left with more civilised fans who can sensibly drink alcohol during matches like at the cricket.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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You couldn’t drink in grounds in the 80s. You couldn’t get to the khazi if it was busy either
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The ban has been in place just over 40 years.
I feel old.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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I wasn’t 18 until the middle of 1986. Which means that Arsenal FC was selling alcohol to a 16/17 year old. Then again, so was every pub in the Old Town.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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Yorkshire Grey was great for under age drinking 😎 Guaranteed to get served.
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I loved the Yorkshire Grey.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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In the early 80s we used to do a Sat night crawl in old town Inc this one.Every pub normally rammed other than the Two Diamonds.
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The Royal Oak was always popular
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I once got warned not to cause trouble in the Two Diamonds by some old fella. I was with a girlfriend and a couple of her mates.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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It would be funny if you, me and WASP all got together and found we recognised each other from back in the day! Stranger things have happened. I even worked in the White Lion for a bit, but that was later - Spring 1992.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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To us, wax then a teenager, it was the "old boys" pub selling mild etc . Sad it's gone now though, think become Old Town Bar ?
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Yes Old Town Bar now
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They used to serve ‘2 pint buckets’ in the bars at the very top of the North Bank at Highbury in the mid 80s, for consumption on the terrace. You’re right about the struggle to get to the toilet though.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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Ha! I was 18 in the middle of 1986 too, and as a former Arsenalist can well remember the North Bank, the beer and the impossibility of reaching the railing in front of you, let alone the toilet. Luckily my bladder was in much better shape back then.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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Happy days Deltic!!
However, there were also times in the early to mid 80s when there’d be less than 20,000 in a stadium that held 60,000 and you had an acre of the North Bank to yourself. I suppose that was to be expected when the central midfield pairing was Brian Talbot and Peter Nicholas. How times have changed.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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I remember fondly nearly all the old songs. And wasn’t it £3.50 or £4 to get in?? Some of the happiest days of my life at the time, sunny days and school mates and the walk through the rows of Victorian terraces to get there. Fantastic memories.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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I remember it was £44 for an under 16 season ticket. Even though the football was generally rubbish, they were indeed some of my happiest times.
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My wife was a regular mid 80s for a couple of years, I think when Rocastle was playing? She says it was about £4 for the North bank and it stank of piss at the back.
Edit; Prob 86-88
Edited by BALDOCKBORO at 16:41:58 on 26th September 2026
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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I saw Rocky on his debut. Without looking it up, I’d guess the start of the 1985/86 season. I don’t remember the smell of piss. But I remember the smell of horse shit and the cooking of burgers along St Thomas’s Road.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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Exactly this. It is so often the case in life that smell triggers the best memories and I recall it exactly as you say. The burgers, horse dung, the sound (smell?! 🤣) of the cockney apples-n-pears-cor-blimey-guvnor programme sellers… it all rushes back. To this day one of my great loves of football grounds is the blend of burgers and freshly cut grass in my nostrils. And on very rare occasion I have been back to Highbury to walk among the gardens and observe the flat that is roughly where I always stood on the North Bank - up above the goal and off to the left as you look at it from the pitch. It gets quite nostalgic at Chez Delts most days, truth be known.
Edited by Spirit of East Coast Boro at 01:17:45 on 27th September 2026
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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I went quite a bit in 1991-2 season with gooner mates. Was 4 quid in, about £1.70 on the train to Finsbury. Saw Ian Wright’s home debut and a weird free scoring George Graham team. On the other Saturdays it was Boro!
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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That sounds like where I used to stand with my mate Al. Two thirds of the way up, adjacent to the central block.
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We were surely very nearby. Funny how the world turns sometimes. 😊
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I only went to Highbury once, right at the front of the North Bank. It must have been all seater by then, so no smell of piss. I feel like I've missed out
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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You're just nose-blind.
You live in Hatfield...
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Yeah my point was more that on a proper full terrace you couldn’t nip out and back in for a pint. I didn’t know exactly when the ban was brought in. Booze was always a massive part of football, but a bit like people are saying now - it isn’t really necessary during the 90 minutes. These days it will just be distracting having people moving in the seated stands all the time. Cricket is shyte for this
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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I have a problem with people in the seats being unable to work out a simple system of where they’re supposed to be sitting in the first place and then constantly getting up and down because they can’t go 2 hours without needing food. Christ knows what their home life is like if they’re relying on a horse meat burger from the football for their sustenance. So yes, I can see how this will be a problem when you’re sitting amongst poorly functioning alcoholics. Then again, it’s easy enough to smuggle drinks into the North Stand. Just make sure it’s in a plastic bottle as the chief steward almost had an aneurysm when he saw me drinking from a can of coke.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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Rarely watched boro between 1900 and 2134 without a coke bottle liberally sprinkled with cheap whisky. I chucked it at a Cambridge player during the home play off semi final, but as it was empty the dregs just piffled out as it landed lower down the East. Someone actually took to borochat to complain that there was obviously alcohol in the stands, as a smelly coke bottle had grazed their bonce!!
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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You, me and Ad buying three 500ml coke bottles and a bottle of whisky to distribute between them, with a pretty much half and half split of coke to whisky, before every away game for a good 5-10 year period, all the way from Grays away to Sheff Weds away.
Halcyon days, my friend!
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Hahaha. Can I stand next to you the next time I can be bothered to attend a match? I’ll bring the Pernod and black in a Ribena bottle.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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To be honest, in a civilised environment, it should be allowed. Anyway, we've got used to drinks in pubs before and after games and now before and at half time in the ground. Leave as is, quite nice as it is thanks.
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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In theory, and speaking as a lifelong non-drinker, I have no issue with it at all. Live and let live. Other football leagues do it so why not us? I used to enjoy the atmosphere on a terrace of beer (and fags, even as an anti-smoker, hypocritically) but as an ageing miserablist I probably wouldn’t want some kid pouring his beer over me when we score. Where I think it becomes absolutely ridiculous is in the boxes where alcohol is available but you’ve got to have the blind down to drink it. A bizarre and typically idiosyncratic nonsense rule that the English do so well. I’ve never understood how you’re allowed to drink yourself stupid before a game or at half time - so being pissed isn’t the issue - but you mustn’t be allowed to glimpse a ball being kicked if you’re sitting behind a glass sheet in a civilised environment! Crazy.
Edited by Spirit of East Coast Boro at 12:52:51 on 26th September 2026
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Re: Alcohol in the stands?
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A company I worked for had a corporate box at the Lane, was fully enclosed with what seemed like bullet proof glass, free beer etc until kick off, they removed it all, locked the fridges etc. same at half time.
Found that very odd and uncalled for especially as work was paying for it 😂
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You probably need to be drunk to watch Spurs too
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