The current legislative framework regarding alcohol at Scottish football matches was brought in more than four decades ago to address disorder; public health concerns do not feature in the contemporary rationale2 . Since then, public policy better recognises the links between alcohol and health, with the Scottish licensing system including ‘protecting and improving public health’ as one of five statutory objectives, and the Scottish Government committing to ‘reduced availability of alcohol’ in the national alcohol framework4 . It is important that the debate surrounding alcohol and football in Scotland is informed by robust and concurrent evidence, regarding both implementation and about the potential consequences of changing the legislation.