Supporters on trial as Birmingham City prepare for alcohol experiment at St Andrew's
Birmingham City supporters will get the chance to drink alcohol in the stands at St Andrew's later this month as part of a trial involving four women's teams.
Drinking in sight of the pitch is currently banned in the top five tiers of the English men’s game, but the legislation does not cover the women’s game.
As such, the Blues will participate in a pilot scheme later this month that also includes Bristol City at Ashton Gate, Newcastle at Kingston Park and Southampton at St Mary’s for supporters of the clubs' women's teams to consume alcohol in view of the pitch.
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The Robins and the Saints will kick-off the trial on January 19 during their games against London City Lionesses and Sunderland, respectively. Blues ladies and Newcastle will then trial the scheme themselves the following week in home fixtures against Bristol City and Portsmouth respectively on January 26.
Nikki Doucet, chief executive of Women’s Professional Leagues Limited, confirmed before Christmas that trials involving the drinking of alcohol at matches would go ahead.
She said: “We are testing that actually in a couple of teams in the Championship this season and we’ll see what we learn from that.
“I think our fan base and the behaviour is different (to the men’s game), and I think ultimately it’s about being able to give our fans choices, while obviously maintaining the safety and what we need to do in terms of being responsible.”
Each team will be involved with the pilot for either four or five home fixtures in the second half of the Women’s Championship season.
The drinking of alcohol at men's games was banned in the wake of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 when 97 Liverpool fans died during an FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest.
