There was considerable pressure to ban alcohol from football grounds in the 1970s and 1980s and it is commonly assumed that this was a response to growing crowd violence and hooliganism.
In fact it was an attempt to stop BBC commentators making complete asses of themselves as this half-time report from the League Cup replay between the Uniteds of Manchester and Oxford illustrates.
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For the record, the match played on 7 December 1983 finished in a 1 – 1 draw. ManU won the second replay 2 – 1 two weeks later.
Thanks to Mark Chapman and Dave Vitty’s Commentary Selection Box available on i-Player for a limited time.
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