Alcohol, poor facilities and dignity at Ibrox

I’m a bit confused at the chat this morning of reintroducing the sale of alcohol at football games.  Alcohol is available for sale at games at Celtic Park, you just need to have a ticket for an expensive enough seat.  If you’re in the cheap seats, you get to queue to pay for some cola.  Is people’s ability to pay an indication of their likelihood to behave in a dangerous or criminal way with some alcohol in their blood?

This implication has always troubled me.

Alcohol, wherever it is sold, inevitably leads to over-indulgence and potentially dangerous behaviour, and requires strong stewarding, whether that is at a night club, or in the No. 7 restaurant.  Scotland’s licenced premises have changed beyond recognition in recent decades.  They are increasingly well-lit, family friendly and safe places to be.  They now sell better beer too, but our nation’s problem with alcohol remains acute.

Society needs to be educated on how to use alcohol responsibly; good venues are part of the solution.

While we are on the subject of facilities at Celtic Park…….  I go months without buying food or drink in the North Stand, Upper, for good reason.  Last week (pestered by one of the boys), I left for the kiosk with 40 minutes on the clock, didn’t get served until the second half started, only to be told there were no hotdogs or pies left.

You know me, I’m not one to get angry at Celtic, but the sheer frustration pushed me over the top, and I didn’t have a drink!  If you’re charging circa £4 for something that’s costing less than £1, make sure stock is sufficient.  Have two people serving each side of the kiosk, not two on one side, with a single person making hardly a dent on the queue at the other.

Needed to get that off my chest.

The ‘news’ this morning that Rangers International are trying to sack commercial director, Imran Ahmad, is more curious for being news than in itself.  Is it even possible for this news to be anything other than a leak from a director against another director?  These newspaper people don’t do irony, they just take careful notes and go write up their story.

This whole episode is beginning to feel a bit like sitting out the back when the neighbours don’t realise their bedroom window is open.  You can hear the noises and you looked up and caught a glance at something horrific looking.  It’s something you’ll laugh about later with your friends but these people really need to acquire some dignity.
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