Alcohol companies are sponsors of major
association football teams and tournaments. Branding has been voluntarily removed from children's replica kits and banned outright in France. Alcohol cannot be consumed in parts of English football grounds with view of the pitch, or anywhere in Scottish grounds outside of corporate hospitality.
In England, football had a drinking culture, which declined from the late 1990s due to foreign managers such as
Arsène Wenger and an increased focus on health and fitness. Some star footballers have suffered from alcohol abuse up to the point of death, and others have committed alcohol-related crimes such as drink driving. Conversely, other players abstain from alcohol, including for reasons of faith.
Alcohol and players
English football's drinking culture was exemplified by
Arsenal's
Tuesday Club. One of the first managers to challenge this and promote the health and performance benefits of abstinence was Frenchman
Arsène Wenger, who was hired by Arsenal in 1996. In 2003, Wenger picked 19-year-old
Jermaine Pennant to play against
Southampton; Pennant had not expected to play, but despite still being
hungover after arriving home from a night out at 6 a.m., he scored a hat-trick as Arsenal won 6–1.[1] In 2016, Wenger said that there was no longer a drinking culture in English football as players were aware of the risks.[2][3]
Former
Liverpool and
Tottenham Hotspur player,
Paul Walsh was part of a drinking culture during his time at the clubs. He said that while with Tottenham he frequently drove when drunk and used alcohol to mask his poor on-pitch performances.[5]
In 2019,
Rio Ferdinand claimed that he had been part of a drinking culture during his time at
West Ham United and that he could not remember his performances in certain games due to his drinking at the time.[6]
In 1996,
Lee Bowyer after drinking to excess, entered a
McDonald's on the
Isle of Dogs, where Bowyer demanded a
cheeseburger. On being informed that only the breakfast menu was available, he flew into a rage, throwing chairs and creating mayhem. Bowyer was convicted of
affray and fined £4,500, which at the time was half a week's wages.[17]
In January 2008,
Kevin Hird was accused of police assault after allegedly slapping a female police officer across the face after urinating in the street having drunk six pints.[18] Hird admitted the charge, was conditionally discharged for six months and ordered to pay £60 costs.[19]
In 2009,
Marlon King was jailed for 18 months for
groping a woman in the
Soho Revue Bar and breaking her nose after she had spurned his advances. The court was told that he had "drunk more than he should have" prior to the assault. At the time of the trial, King had previous convictions including one for drink driving.[20]
In 2012,
Adam Hammill was sentenced to 12 weeks imprisonment suspended for 12 months for a drunken assault on two female
paramedics outside a nightclub in Liverpool.[21]
On 8 June 2013,
Anthony Stokes attacked and head-butted
Elvis impersonator Anthony Bradley, in an argument over drink in
Buck Whaley's nightclub on Lower
Leeson Street in Dublin. Stokes subsequently agreed to pay Bradley €30,000 for breaking his nose and two of his teeth, in what was later described in court as a "nasty, cowardly attack".[23] Bradley subsequently sued Stokes in the High Court in Dublin, having paid €13,500 over three-and-a-half years in medical expenses, stopped working due to physical and psychological effects; he was subsequently diagnosed with a degenerative spinal condition. At the trial Stokes pleaded guilty to
assault, and was sentenced to two years in prison suspended for two years. Bradley was awarded a sum of €232,000 by the judge, made up of: €150,000 in general damages; €50,000 in aggravated damages; and €32,000 for medical expenses.[23][24]
In January 2020,
Jordan Sinnott was left with a fractured skull after a fight in
Retford,
Nottinghamshire. In July 2020, two men, Kai Denovan and Cameron Matthews, were jailed for manslaughter for their part in the "violent, drunken attack" that killed Sinnott. Denovan was jailed for eleven years and Matthews for eight years and three months.[27]
In 2021, former footballer
Paul Conlon was jailed for nearly 12 years after admitting the
manslaughter of his 77-year-old father while drunk.[28]
On 20 June 2023,
Marcus Maddison pleaded guilty to one count of
GBH without intent after an incident on 24 September 2022 where he punched a 60-year-old woman in the face in a drunken attack.[29] On 8 August 2023, he was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment.[30]
In 2018,
Darron Gibson was found guilty of drink-driving for a second time having previously been convicted in 2015. Gibson who hit parked cars on his way to training with his club
Sunderland was found to be three times over the drink-driving limit. Sunderland terminated his contract after he was charged.[62]
Drink driving related deaths
In August 2003,
Jimmy Davis was killed on the
M40 motorway in
Oxfordshire when he crashed into the back of a 32-tonne articulated lorry. He was twice the legal drink-drive limit.[63]
In 2008, goalkeeper
Luke McCormick was jailed for seven years and four months after admitting killing two young brothers on the
M6 motorway while driving dangerously at twice the legal alcohol limit.[64]
In May 2018,
Jlloyd Samuel collided with a van while driving a
Range Rover in
Cheshire. The car burst into flames and Samuel died at the scene of the accident. An inquest found that Samuel had been twice the drink-driving limit and that his car had strayed onto the wrong side of the road, causing in a head-on collision.[65]
Muslim footballers and alcohol
Muslim footballers generally do not consume alcohol and celebrations have been altered to avoid exposing them to alcohol.[66]
In February 2024, Muslim
Hamza Choudhury was convicted of drink driving after driving on the wrong side of the road with double the
legal alcohol limit.[67]
In 1932, West Ham United manager
Syd King was sacked after arriving drunk at a board meeting.[73] In 1933, shortly after the sacking, he committed suicide by drinking alcohol mixed with a corrosive liquid.[74]
Following his retirement in 2008,
Claus Lundekvam revealed that he had problems with
depression, drugs and alcohol after his playing career.[75] About his addiction he said: "I would drink 2 litres (0.44 imp gal) of
hard liquor and do between five and ten grams of cocaine every day". Lundekvam got help to overcome his addiction and issues at
Sporting Chance Clinic, a recovery facility for athletes set up by former Arsenal captain Tony Adams.[75]
In March 2021,
Lee Collins hanged himself in a hotel room.[76] At an inquest the coroner recorded a verdict of suicide.[77] It was heard during the inquest that Collins had been drinking heavily every day for the past decade, and had been under the influence of alcohol and cocaine at the time of his suicide.[77]
In 1985, the consumption of alcohol in the stands of English football grounds and stadium areas with views of the pitch was banned in order to curb
hooliganism. It was also banned on buses and trains taking supporters to games.[79] This applies in the highest five tiers (
Premier League to
National League). In 2021, former sports minister
Tracey Crouch considered changes to this rule, believing that it encouraged fans to drink quickly at half time. The idea was criticised by Mark Roberts, the police's leader on football.[80]
Alcohol has been banned from any parts of Scottish football grounds since unrest at the
1980 Scottish Cup final between
Celtic and
Rangers, excluding corporate hospitality areas. There was talk on revoking this ban for
UEFA Euro 2020, which was opposed by the police.[81]
In 2012,
Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper
Chris Kirkland was assaulted by a drunken
Leeds United supporter who ran onto the pitch. At his prosecution, the court were told the fan had drunk a number of cans of lager and 0.75 litres (0.16 imp gal) of vodka before arriving in Sheffield followed by a further 7–10 pints of
cider. He received a 16-week jail sentence and a six-year football banning order.[82]
In June 2007, the
Portman Group, representing Britain's drinks industry, voluntarily agreed to remove alcohol sponsors from replica kits for children.[97] Owing to concerns about alcohol, Carling removed their branding from children's Celtic and Rangers kits in 2008 ahead of a Scottish legal ban on alcohol adverts appearing on children's kits which came into force in 2009.[98]
Since the passing of the Loi Évin in 1991, it is illegal in France to use sponsorship to promote alcohol. For this reason, visiting foreign teams have to remove alcohol branding from their kits. There exists a loophole by which the branding of alcohol companies is permitted if it is explicitly promoting a
low-alcohol beer with an
ABV of under 1.2%; Carlsberg was able to sponsor
UEFA Euro 2016 in France for this reason.[99] At
UEFA Euro 2020, French player
Paul Pogba removed a sponsored bottle of non-alcoholic
Heineken during a press conference; organisers then said they would no longer place beer bottles around Muslims such as Pogba.[100]
In June 2019, North America's
Major League Soccer allowed jersey and stadium sponsorship by liquor and gambling companies.[101] As of November 2020, the only Central American countries banning the advertising of alcohol in sport were Costa Rica and Panama. A bill in Costa Rica then passed its first reading, prescribing a 6% tax on alcohol sponsorships, and ensuring that 20% of advertising fees would be spent on building and maintaining sports facilities.[102]
In 2012, Spain banned sponsorship of alcohol with an ABV of 20% or higher, in sport. The compromise was due to breweries investing heavily in the game, including investment at grassroots level: in 2017 they invested €60 million, with sponsorships potentially doubling or trebling that amount.[103]