Sport Fan Attitudes on Alcohol: Insights from a Survey of Football Supporters in Scotland and England

Richard I. Purves; Nathan Critchlow; Richard Giulianotti; Kate Hunt; Stephen Morrow; Angus Bancroft

doi:10.1177/01937235211067192

Sport Fan Attitudes on Alcohol: Insights from a Survey of Football Supporters in Scotland and England

Richard I. Purves^*
, Nathan Critchlow
, Richard Giulianotti
, Kate Hunt
, Stephen Morrow
, Angus Bancroft

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Availability of alcohol at football matches in the UK is much debated and subject to multiple restrictions, yet there is little understanding of supporters’ attitudes. A cross-sectional survey of football supporters in Scotland and England (n = 1750) was conducted April–June 2019. Most supporters viewed drinking at matches as acceptable (74.4%) and thought alcohol should be available at grounds (76.0%); around two-fifths thought most supporters consumed alcohol before matches (44.1%); but only a quarter (26.6%) thought disorder at matches was due to alcohol. Attitudes varied by supporter characteristics: supporters who were younger, in England, or more regular match-goers were more favourable towards alcohol consumption and availability at matches. We conclude that alcohol regulations in some nations and sports – where restrictions are based on historical disorder – may no longer be appropriate.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	199-218
Number of pages	20
Journal	Journal of Sport and Social Issues
Volume	46
Issue number	2
Early online date	23 Dec 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/01937235211067192
Publication status	Published - Apr 2022

Keywords

alcohol
attitudes
Football
regulations
supporters

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Sociology and Political Science

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10.1177/01937235211067192Licence: CC BY

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title = "Sport Fan Attitudes on Alcohol: Insights from a Survey of Football Supporters in Scotland and England",

abstract = "Availability of alcohol at football matches in the UK is much debated and subject to multiple restrictions, yet there is little understanding of supporters{\textquoteright} attitudes. A cross-sectional survey of football supporters in Scotland and England (n = 1750) was conducted April–June 2019. Most supporters viewed drinking at matches as acceptable (74.4\%) and thought alcohol should be available at grounds (76.0\%); around two-fifths thought most supporters consumed alcohol before matches (44.1\%); but only a quarter (26.6\%) thought disorder at matches was due to alcohol. Attitudes varied by supporter characteristics: supporters who were younger, in England, or more regular match-goers were more favourable towards alcohol consumption and availability at matches. We conclude that alcohol regulations in some nations and sports – where restrictions are based on historical disorder – may no longer be appropriate.",

keywords = "alcohol, attitudes, Football, regulations, supporters",

author = "Purves, \{Richard I.\} and Nathan Critchlow and Richard Giulianotti and Kate Hunt and Stephen Morrow and Angus Bancroft",

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doi = "10.1177/01937235211067192",

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AU - Purves, Richard I.

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AU - Giulianotti, Richard

AU - Hunt, Kate

AU - Morrow, Stephen

AU - Bancroft, Angus

N1 - Funding Information: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (grant number ES/R008485/1). Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2021.

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N2 - Availability of alcohol at football matches in the UK is much debated and subject to multiple restrictions, yet there is little understanding of supporters’ attitudes. A cross-sectional survey of football supporters in Scotland and England (n = 1750) was conducted April–June 2019. Most supporters viewed drinking at matches as acceptable (74.4%) and thought alcohol should be available at grounds (76.0%); around two-fifths thought most supporters consumed alcohol before matches (44.1%); but only a quarter (26.6%) thought disorder at matches was due to alcohol. Attitudes varied by supporter characteristics: supporters who were younger, in England, or more regular match-goers were more favourable towards alcohol consumption and availability at matches. We conclude that alcohol regulations in some nations and sports – where restrictions are based on historical disorder – may no longer be appropriate.

AB - Availability of alcohol at football matches in the UK is much debated and subject to multiple restrictions, yet there is little understanding of supporters’ attitudes. A cross-sectional survey of football supporters in Scotland and England (n = 1750) was conducted April–June 2019. Most supporters viewed drinking at matches as acceptable (74.4%) and thought alcohol should be available at grounds (76.0%); around two-fifths thought most supporters consumed alcohol before matches (44.1%); but only a quarter (26.6%) thought disorder at matches was due to alcohol. Attitudes varied by supporter characteristics: supporters who were younger, in England, or more regular match-goers were more favourable towards alcohol consumption and availability at matches. We conclude that alcohol regulations in some nations and sports – where restrictions are based on historical disorder – may no longer be appropriate.

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Sport Fan Attitudes on Alcohol: Insights from a Survey of Football Supporters in Scotland and England

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Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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