Soon, Football Fans in Britain Might Say 'Cheers' in Stadiums

The ban on alcohol consumption in British football grounds was imposed in 1985 after the sport witnessed a string of incidents of hooliganism. However, no such ban exists for those who go to cricket or rugby matches.

British football lovers who have missed saying "cheers" to each other while enjoying the beautiful game, are soon likely to be able to enjoy a pint on the terraces.

Supping on a few sharpeners as you enjoy shouting out an array of football chants might once more be a reality as the 36-year-old ban on drinking in stadiums looks set to be repealed in the near future.

The development came after former Sports Minister and Conservative Member of Parliament, Tracey Crouch, completed an independent fan-led review and recommended that the long-standing ban be done away with.

Crouch is backing the move because she thinks that it would discourage fans from drinking copious quantities before matches and could help lower-league clubs to increase their revenue.

"Take a club like Dulwich Hamlet, which is in National League South. It's revenue is generated through its refreshments," Crouch told the English media on Friday.

"If it gets promoted to the National League Premier, it effectively stops generating that revenue during a game."

"They said openly in evidence to us that they cannot afford to get promoted because of the rules around alcohol," the 46-year-old parliamentarian from Chatham and Aylesford added.

"Lots of clubs generate a lot of their income through their bar and I think it's time to look at this issue again," she concluded.

However, initially the plan is to lift the ban in the National League and League Two before extending it to the Premier League, the nation's topmost football league.

The Premier League's foreign counterparts such as Spain's La Liga and Italy's Serie A already allow fans to have a drink while enjoying a game of football from their seat.