Rugby fans maul Twickenham alcohol ban

Spectators insist on ticket refunds after finding they were part of drink-free trial at Six Nations fixture

SPECTATORS have demanded ticket refunds from England’s Six Nations win over Wales at the weekend after arriving to discover that they would be part of an alcohol-free trial at Twickenham.

The Telegraph has learnt of chaotic scenes, said to have “ruined” the experience on Saturday, in which fans were forced to throw away drinks or quickly consume them to watch the game.

One spectator described seeing a man “downing” four pints after being informed by a steward that the drinks could not be brought within view of the pitch in his area of the stadium. Guinness is sold for £7.50 a pint at matches.

It is understood that many spectators were blindsided by the revelation that they would be sitting in a designated alcohol-free zone at the match.

One ticket holder, who spent £117 to see the game and a further £14.70 for two drinks before kick-off, claimed they were not informed of the trial at any point until a steward explained the regulations in the area they were seated.

The only signage about the alcohol-free zone was at the steps to the seats and at the seats themselves, which read “alcohol-free seating area”, it was claimed. However, by this point spectators had already purchased drinks.

No details of the trial, which imposed regulations on 627 seats at the stadium, were outlined on the ticketing app, it was said.

The Rugby Football Union (RFU), which owns Twickenham, has been discussing how to improve the atmosphere at England matches, with complaints about supporters repeatedly getting up to use the toilet or go to the bar among those most received.

However, the trial appeared only to create confusion during the match.

One attendee said: “During the game stewards were constantly having to enforce the no-alcohol rule by walking up and down speaking to people who had circumvented the entrance with beer. In one instance, a whole row was asked to leave the seating area. This caused chaos and our view was constantly blocked.

“It made the match-day experience awful and, to be frank, our day was ruined.”

Another ticket holder who ended up in the designated area said that while they appreciated the desire for a no-alcohol zone, the implementation of the trial had been calamitous.

“Due to lack of planning, and to some extent lack of care for the fans attending, this was a disaster,” they said.

An article on the “debenture members” section of the England Rugby website, which guarantees members ticket purchase rights for all RFU England senior men’s matches at Twickenham, stated that alcohol-free measures would also take in England’s game against Ireland and outlines the affected seating areas in question: lower tier L15 and L16 and upper tier U14 and U15.

However, the article was dated Jan 24, after many tickets would already have been bought. It also gave the reassurance that “when selecting seats within these areas ticket purchasers will clearly see that they are purchasing within an alcohol-free zone and will tick a box confirming that they have been made aware of the alcohol-free policy”. However, this does not appear to tally with the experience of many in the stands at the weekend.

An RFU spokesman said: “We know the full match-day experience is very important to fans, which is why we continue to evolve the wider Twickenham event-day experiences before, during and after the game.

“Twickenham Stadium introduced alcohol-free areas for our two home Guinness Men’s Six Nations fixtures on a trial basis based on supporters’ feedback.”

‘In one instance, a whole row was asked to leave the seating area. This caused chaos’

‘The noalcohol rule made the match-day experience awful, and our day was ruined’