THE BIG BOOZE DEBATE: TikTok BoxPark generation vs treating fans like adults - should fans be able to drink in the stands?

Boozing in the stands. Yes or no?

Andy Burnham has hinted legislation preventing football fans from having a pint in view of the pitch in England's top five divisions could be overturned.

The Prime Minister called the rule, which has been in place since the height of football hooliganism in 1985, 'outdated' and 'discriminatory'.

Burnham is a proud Evertonian and still has his season ticket at the Hill Dickinson Stadium despite now occupying the country's second most important job, just behind Thomas Tuchel.

"I don't think it's fair for football fans to be singled out in that way," he said. "I think that legislation dates to an era where football was very different, and I do believe there is a case to remove that discrimination.

"There are different ways it could be done, perhaps on a trial basis. But I'm not going to back away from what's been a long-held view of mine. I don't see how it can be fair that some supporters of one sport can be treated differently."

So - should football fans be allowed to drink in the stands while watching their sides? Two of our reporters give differing views...

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To get it, it's a quick and easy one-two:

1. Head THIS WAY

Fair play, Andy Burnham. The double standards imposed on football fans have needed addressing for a long time and it's refreshing to see someone of note talk about it.

Putting booze back on the terraces is not going to increase disorder. Fans inclined to misbehave have already had seven pints before most matches anyway. The idiots are already fuelled.

You can guarantee that performative nonsense of pint-throwing will be nipped in the bud early. Football fans won't allow it. That was a fad developed in Boxpark and will exclusively remain in Boxpark.

Ultimately, that is what people pay to go to venues like that for. People do not pay their hard-earned cash to do the same at the football; they are paying for a very, very different experience - most notably to actually watch the game.

At the end of the day, let's trust people. If I want a pint, let me have one. We can trust adults to have a pint in 99% of scenarios in life and it's time to trust them at football matches again.

Fans in Germany, Netherlands, Italy and elsewhere in Europe can do it. So can we.

I think this is a terrible idea. As a match-going fan of a third-tier football club, the last thing I want is being drenched by a warm £7 pint of Carling because we've equalised at Mansfield.

I love a beer as much as the next person. I love a few before the game. I love one at half-time. I love a few after the game. But if you can't go 45 minutes without a pint, you've probably got bigger issues than not being allowed to drink in view of the pitch.

Where I do agree with the Prime Minister is that football fans are still largely tarred by an unfair reputation of yesteryear and are treated like second-class citizens in many scenarios. But keep the booze ban in place.

In the age of TikTok, kids will be desperate to film themselves with a performative pint throw after they have whipped out their phone to film their striker scoring a penalty in front of them. And it's boring farts like me that will cop it in the back of the head.

Not to mention people constantly shuffling past you to go backwards and forwards to the bar during the game. We don't need it.