Swinney: It's time to let fans have a swally at the game

As I’ve said before in the Scottish Daily Express, I'm a big fan of alcohol. I enjoy its taste, what it does to food, its use as a social lubricant, the role it plays in celebrations and commiserations, the intricacy of its production, and the way it can make even the most boring event instantly more fun.

- Alan Grant Writer and Commentator

Alcohol belongs alongside the automobile and the printing press on humanity’s highlight reel if we ever meet the aliens.

We'll certainly need a drink that day, especially if it’s Mr Musk they meet first.

Booze is a critical part of Scottish life and culture. We unwind with it at the weekend, enjoy a sneaky dram as a nightcap, and our national dessert is basically a dropped cheesecake waterboarded with whisky. Booze runs through Scotland’s veins just as much as a slightly threatening romantic sensibility and a sense of humour.

It’s also available at most events and public occasions; and for good reason. In my own beloved Edinburgh, it’s our right to drink in the street if we wish, a right I hope is someday extended to other Scots living in the bit of the map teachers in the EH postcodes dismiss as the “dark lands”.

It’s on tap at gigs, rugby matches, ice hockey rinks, and in every meeting space, university, conference centre, and strip club in the land. However, it is still not permitted at football games - except in the hospitality areas. This is a policy whose time to end has come. I believe John Swinney should show some bottle and allow the sale of booze at football games.