I have never understood why anyone needs to get drunk to watch a football match. People have tried to explain it to me, but they have never made sense.
This observation is obviously relevant in the context of yesterday's Euro 2024 final. What astonishes me is that pubs expected to pull an additional 10,000,000 pints as a result of that, whilst there appears to be a widespread feeling that being late to work this morning, when suffering with a hangover, will be acceptable.
I am not trying to deny people choice. And I am not teetotal, and never intend to be. However, over the last year or so I gave considerably reduced my alcohol consumption, which was never that much. This has been assisted, in part, by discovering that there are some very good very low alcohol beers now that offer at least as much flavour as conventional beers, and are usually significantly better with food than many wines are.
The process of reducing my alcohol intake has, as a consequence, been partly by accident rather than design, but the benefits have been obvious. I have felt fitter, and less tired. This has been particularly true in the evening. If I had a glass of wine with a meal in the past I would feel sluggish for the rest the day. I now have energy for much longer.
There is, of course, medical evidence to support the fact that alcohol is a drug as well as being a substance that is decidedly harmful to our health. That means alcohol is much more detrimental to our well-being than many banned substances. Its impact on demand for NHS services is also significant, and is now much greater than that from tobacco. It could also be having a negative impact on economic productivity, and much else in life.
However, this issue is almost never discussed. More than that, if you mention that you are not drinking, or are looking for low alcohol alternatives without having the obvious excuses of driving or pregnancy to use, then there is a definite social convention to treat you as quite strange. If you could describe yourself as a recovering alcoholic then people would understand. If you explained that the objection was religious, again, there would be comprehension. If, however, you simply suggest you've chosen not to drink because of the negative impacts of alcohol the consequence is that you take the risk of causing offence, because the person hearing you does not want to acknowledge the possibility that these risks might exist.
For the government, if it wanted to cut NHS costs whilst simultaneously increasing growth in the UK, cutting alcohol consumption would be a very obvious thing to do. The country would, quite simply, be better off as a result. We would also live longer, and more healthily. At the same time, the rate of crime in society would reduce, and many pointless deaths would be avoided. I am aware that young people are now drinking less. They seem to have discovered the truth that so far their parents have not acknowledged.
I watched the football, but alcohol was not involved.
The country would be better off if that link was broken.
My question is why, outside Scotland, has this issue not been discussed by politicians?
Thanks for reading this post.
You can share this post on social media of your choice by clicking these icons:
You can subscribe to this blog's daily email here.
And if you would like to support this blog you can, here:
You can add to alcohol, both processed foods and sugar.
Big food has much to answer for.
I have already done so
And will be doing so again
Its not discussed because there us money to be made from alcohol.
I forget what the figure is but alcohol is involved in about 50 – 60% of crime and is a huge factor in the sort of nightime mayhem we see in the evenings in our towns and cities.
Thank you, both.
Plus week-ends at A&E.
Alcohol in moderation has health benefits compared to being tee-total. That’s well established from literature noting the existence of a J-curve. I note what you say that Scottish politicians have talked about alcohol, but it didn’t do the Scottish public any good with deaths attributable to alcohol rising in absolute terms slightly more than in England in the MUP analysis. Better outcomes is what we want surely, and so far based on your anecdote about low alcohol drinks, this has been achieved not by government talking about it. Alcohol consumption is broadly down as you said and politicians aren’t talking about it. Why break that sweet correlation?
Education, technology and availability seem to solving this gradually.
That literature is now discredited. There is bye considered to be no self level of alcohol and polyphenols can come from many sources, not just red wine.
And why break the silence? Maybe because it would do good? Have you a counter argument?
My wife and I had a dry January 2 years ago, didn’t miss alcohol so carried on.
As we live in France where alcohol is seen as a requirement with meals we are regarded as very odd.
My Sunday morning bike club return to the clubhouse and open the rosé wine. It’s about 11.30!
We also gave up meat about a year ago. Try explaining that.
Feel much healthier and fitter with the obvious weight loss and don’t miss alcohol or meat at all.
I still eat chicken. The only mammal I miss is bacon, but that’s not hard.
sanctimonious self indulgent crap
There’s nothing like a troll to add to the quality of debate.
And self-indulgent should be hyphenated.
I have worked with two people who died of alcohol related diseases in their late 40’s and can think of at least one more who had to stop drinking or die
Similar knowledge of friends who’ve died, unpleasantly, from alcohol-related illnesses or have suddenly found it necessary to give up or get a dire liver condition.
As to the power of the alcohol industry, I recall making an FoI enquiry 20 years ago to find out who Blair was meeting in his pow-wows with ‘chiefs of industry’. When they eventually told me, I was struck by how many of them were the chiefs of big alcohol companies. The Blair government was, of course, responsible for a great relaxation in licensing hours.
Relatively cheap and legal, the alcohol problem permeates through society. Given the staggering amount of (cheap) alcohol both consumed and stored in the Houses of Parliament, and the business bribes to parliamentarians, are we surprised at the lack of discussion let alone legislation?
Good comment
Why isn’t alcohol taxed uniformly, per ml of alcohol, rather than (absurdly) by type of beverage?
I’d also note that some people simply don’t like the taste of alcohol. Why should they be treated as strange.
I don’t know
Part of the reason people need to get drunk to watch a football match is that alcohol is addictive. Rather than simply admitting this, it is psychologically easier to drink in a socially acceptable way. But this can change.
Yesterday I went to a meeting in London yesterday about organizing protests against various things happening in China: the arrest of journalists, suppression of free trade unions, exploitation of ethnic minorities etc..
On leaving someone remarked that at a similar meeting in the 80s everyone would have been smoking. I wouldn’t have been because I have never smoked, but what he said was basically true. The interesting thing is that no one complains that not being able to smoke is an infringement of their liberty. It is just accepted.
Similarly quarter of a century ago all the pubs and bars at which the football was being watched would have been full of cigarette smoke. At the time one might have asked why you need to smoke to watch a football match.
The change from the country I was brought up in is quite astounding. I have a childhood memory from the 1950s of being in a London underground train and, looking down the carriage, it seemed that every single person was smoking and the top half of the carriage was filled with a dense cloud of smoke.
It seems that a whole society’s drug habits can change quite radically over a comparatively short time. Maybe in another 25 years time, most people will not drink alcohol and not think anything of it. It may seem hard to imagine a room full if people watching football with nothing stronger to drink than tea or coffee, but not so long ago it would have been hard to imagine the majority of them not smoking.
But the culture regarding alcohol is changing too. It’s not so long ago that people spoke of having a liquid lunch, or where you might be asked “Where do you drink?”, as if everyone has a place where they get drunk every Saturday night.
I’m not sure what drives these changes. Do changes in the law drive changes in social attitudes or is it the other way round? The Wetherspoon pub chain banned smoking long before it became a legal necessity. I am told they did so in order to attract customers with young children, but that, itself, is indicative of changing social attitudes. When I was a child no one was particularly worried about children being surrounded by cigarette smoke.
I haven’t come across a pub in central London that does not sell low alcohol beer and cider. And some sell alcohol free wine and “gaba” spirits too. So perhaps the change can will come faster than most of us can imagine.
I hope so
“I have never understood why anyone needs to get drunk to watch a football match.”
If I was forced to go to a stadium with 20,000+ other people, many of whom smell and behave badly, to watch a concert or sporting event then I would probably drink too much to.
I go without ever drinking
I watched the game at home without alcohol…. but I was going to go to the pub if it went to extra time.
So, I will put in a good word for drinking!
Our local pub (handily, just 30 metres from my front door) serves excellent beer and is frequented by all sorts of my neighbours that I don’t see anywhere else. Beer lubricates the conversation and allows discussions that just don’t happen at the village coffee mornings. Now, occasionally the wheels will come off…. but rarely.
Going back many years when I worked in Japan, company nights out involved a lot of drinking. When drunk you could say anything to your boss without consequence. If he (the boss, and it was always a man) took it out on the underling that spoke truth to power while intoxicated then he would be shunned. Not saying getting drunk is a great think by “in vino veritas”.
But they will take it out, you can be sure
Many careers have been ruined by drink
A few months ago I was admitted to hospital with a heart problem. Because of bed shortages I spent one night in the respiratory ward. During my stay it was clear that my fellow patients were in there as a result of problems with tobacco and alcohol abuse. To say it was scary is a considerable understatement. I haven’t touched alcohol since. The improvement in my health and wellbeing is remarkable. I haven’t felt so well for years.
Mine is not so dramatic, but real
I have lived in Florida , aka Margaritaville, for 20 years so I have experienced many “episode or vacation” drinkers.
Friends of mine who come to Florida, from Cleveland, Ohio, for 5 months every year only consume alcohol when they are resident in Florida. My friends do not consume alcohol when they reside at their home in Ohio.
In Florida during the “season” which is late November to Easter, there is a neighborhood patio party on my street every afternoon at “Happy Hour” for anyone who wants to attend. Lots of drinking going on but everyone is walking home or riding in an electric golf cart.
Alcohol consumption is difficult to regulate by law because it varies so much from person-to-person and event-to-event. However, I will agree with many posters that “sports hooligans” seem to be the worst drunks.
One reason why alcohol is tolerated and regarded as normal is that it has been around for so long that people consider it part of the culture. I suspect that significant numbers of people would see it as an attack on their rights if measures were taken to reduce consumption. [I have never drunk a lot but have cut back mainly because sometimes I do not see the need. Mind you its difficult not to think of resorting to a drink when you read some of the rubbish on the economy and housing in the media! But I restrain myself!].
Much to agree with
The government has just announced that in the King’s Speech there will be a bill ” to enforce tough new spending rules designed to ensure economic growth while avoiding the chaos which left families with spiralling bills and wreaked misery on people’s lives”.
Have they been at the wacky baccy or the drink?
Utterly bizarre
I object to my taxes being wasted on weapons of mass destruction. Not buying alcohol goes a little way towards squaring the circle of compliance versus conscience. But my maxim, “Consume No Drink” (CND for short) comes at a cost; i.e. ALWAYS being the designated driver!
Compensation being that you learn a LOT about friends & family on their homeward journey. As Clive Parry says “in vino veritas”!
There were 100 of us in my mixed secondary year group. We’re close and have regular reunions. Class of 71, so all just post 70 now.
Every one of the first eight of our group to die, by age 55, was alcohol related. All were male.
Anecdotal yes, but still powerful.
Agreed
And sorry, too