FSA challenges Hillsborough reference in football alcohol debate

The Football Supporters’ Association has criticised the UK Football Policing Unit over its reference to the Taylor Report during a debate about allowing alcohol in football stands. According to the Guardian, the supporters’ group said the comments brought Hillsborough into an argument about drinking restrictions and needed correcting. The policing unit subsequently said it had not intended to link alcohol with the disaster.

Watch the highlights:

The dispute followed Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s renewed call to reconsider rules preventing supporters from drinking within sight of the pitch. The FSA backed his position, while the UKFPU argued that changing the restrictions without examining the evidence would be premature. In setting out its concerns, the unit referred to football tragedies, legislative changes and the Taylor Report, alongside the long period without a significant football-related disaster.

The Taylor Report followed the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, in which 97 Liverpool supporters died. In a statement published on X on Thursday, the FSA stressed that alcohol did not cause the disaster. It pointed to the finding that supporters were unlawfully killed and that failures by police and ambulance services contributed to their deaths, making that distinction central to its response.

Responding to the criticism, a UKFPU spokesperson acknowledged that the alcohol laws were introduced in 1985, before the Taylor Report. The spokesperson described those restrictions and the report’s subsequent recommendations as separate elements of a wider set of measures that had improved football safety. The unit maintained that alcohol contributes to violent and disorderly behaviour among a minority of football supporters and sought a meeting with Burnham.

The FSA also set out limits to the change it supports. It argued that clubs should be able to decide their approach with supporters, rather than being required to serve alcohol throughout their grounds. Consultation would be essential, it said, and some areas, including family sections, might not be suitable even where drinking in other parts of a stadium proved popular.

Burnham had suggested on Wednesday that a trial could be one route towards changing the restrictions. His argument centred on the different treatment of football supporters compared with spectators at other sports. The FSA similarly highlighted that fans can drink in the same stadium seats during concerts or rugby league matches, while rejecting the idea that reform should mean compulsory alcohol service everywhere.