Home / Sports / Cheers! Hampden Lifts Alcohol Ban for Upcoming Football Games
Cheers! Hampden Lifts Alcohol Ban for Upcoming Football Games
15 Sep
Summary
- Alcohol sales will resume at Hampden Park for upcoming matches.
- Successful trials were conducted during recent national team friendlies.
- Occasional licenses approved for specific hospitality areas.
Alcohol sales are set to return to Hampden Park for Scotland's upcoming football matches after earlier trials were deemed a "good result." The Scottish Football Association had been operating under a ban on alcohol sales in stadiums since 1981.
Recent trial sales, conducted during friendlies against Japan and Curaçao, took place from pop-up hospitality bars in the stadium concourse. These trials reported no adverse incidents, leading to the approval of four occasional licenses for two areas of the concourse for the matches against Switzerland on September 29 and Slovenia next month.
The hospitality bars will open at 17:45, with sales stopping at 19:00 for the 19:45 kick-off. Access to these bars is restricted to fans holding tickets for the specific level five east and west bronze concourse areas. This incremental approach aims to gather further data while prioritizing public safety, according to licensing lawyer Stephen McGowan.
