TWO Barclays Women’s Championship clubs will trial the allowance of alcohol consumption in view of the pitch this season.
Women’s Professional Leagues Limited, a new regulating body that oversees the Women’s Super League and Championship, are in the early stages of discussions and are yet to confirm which clubs will facilitate the pilot.
WPLL chief executive Nikki Doucet said at the Leaders Week London event: “We are going to test it in a couple of teams in the Championship this season and we will see what we will learn from that.”
She also touched on how the fanbase of the Women’s Championship is different and that there is space to allow fans to be responsible for making safe decisions.
The Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol) Act, 1985, outlines the ban on spectators being able to drink alcohol in view of the pitch at football matches, for tiers 1-5.
The law was introduced as a means of controlling and reducing the number of intoxication-related incidences and arrests made at football matches.
However, the rules were shaped around the behaviour of men’s football spectators.
The ban that extended into women’s football was put in place by footballing authorities, but the new WPLL can make rule changes without FA oversight.
The outcome of the trial may affect individual club stances in relation to how they wish to manage the potential rule change.
For example, some clubs (dependent on their venue) may wish to hire more stewards or security to ensure crowd safety in the stands.
Consequently, there will also be potential cost increases and more logistical planning required to protect not only the spectators, but also players and to uphold basic venue safety.
Having said that, income increases could come in the form of sponsorship from alcohol beverage companies.
Close-up televised crowd shots could now be an opportunity to have branded drinks cans and cups seen.
Asahi Super Dry is the official beer partner and training kit sponsor of Manchester City, and though the exact figures are not public, their sponsorship total is rumoured to be around $20 million.
The average yearly income for a Women’s Championship player is between £20,000 and £30,000, so an advertising opportunity such as this could be a game changer for the league.
