Should footballers be allowed to drink? Who is right, Harry Redknapp or Paul Gascoigne?

I may be wrong but I think the ‘drinking culture’ in football is a predominantly British problem. The association of football with drinking copious amounts of beer doesn’t seem to happen across the rest of Europe.

Arrested

Earlier in the week Tottenham and England defender Ledley King was arrested for an alleged assault on a doorman at a London nightclub. King has apologised to his manager Harry Redknapp and the rest of the people at his club saying,

“I sincerely regret that a night out with friends went too far. I have apologised to Harry and I fully appreciate that, as a professional footballer, I have a duty to behave in a responsible manner.”

Harry Redknapp reacted angrily to the incident and talked about invoking a total ban on drinking alcohol at Tottenham from next season.

“I’ll implement a strong rule next season that drinking is a no-no here. Footballers should dedicate their lives to playing. Footballers should not drink. You shouldn’t put diesel in a Ferrari. I know it’s hard but they are earning big money, they are role models to kids. We wouldn’t get these problems if the players weren’t drinking. There’s still too much of a drinking culture in English football but it’s not as bad as it used to be. At Tottenham we do a lot with kids, a lot of them underprivileged. We have to set an example. Too much drinking goes on in this country. Too many people are not happy unless they have had a drink.”

One of Tottenham’s most famous ex-players and ex-drinkers is the great Paul Gascoigne. Despite the terrible problems with alcohol and mental health issues that Gascoigne has suffered, he is totally against an alcohol ban. He says that players are under a great deal of pressure and that they should be allowed to relax.

“It’s a little lesson for Ledley King. That’s OK. He’ll learn from that, there’s not a problem, leave the kid alone. What can you do? Now there’s twice as many paparazzi, I’ve got followed today all day from nine o’clock. Four paparazzi would not leave us alone and you’re going to get that now. It’s just how you cope with them. Players are under a lot of pressure, sometimes they need to relax. In Holland some players smoke after games, not many English players smoke. They get provoked like I was provoked.”

Gascoigne had a particularly bad time last year but seems to be recovering well at the moment which is good news for his millions of fans.

“I’m doing well. I’m happy the way life’s going for us at the moment, as long as I keep it like that. The support I’m getting from the public is fantastic. I’m trying to make up for what I lost in 2008, which was a bad year for me. Now I’m trying to pull it back by doing the right things and trying to help other people – the people that helped me – and try and re-pay them back for the help they gave me.”

I don’t think that anyone would disagree with Gascoigne when he says that modern players are put under a great deal of pressure, particularly through the media. I also don’t think anyone would begrudge the top players having some relaxation.

Moderation

I would think that this is a matter of anything in moderation. If players have a couple of beers or a glass or two of wine to be sociable and relax then not too many people would have a problem with that.

The difference comes when players drink to the extreme to become totally inebriated and then behave in the unacceptable manner that King allegedly behaved in. This is wrong on so many levels. It is wrong because a top sportsman should always look after their body. It is wrong because the top players are role models for millions of young people. It is wrong because players who earn the amazing privileges, financial and otherwise, of being a top footballer, should never forget how privileged they are.

Education

On the other hand, our top footballers are young men who often come from an under-privileged background and often have a pretty poor education. To give young men from these type of backgrounds thousands of pounds a week, is it realistic to expect them to behave like role models? Is it realistic to expect them to behave in a better manner than similar young men who don’t have the money?

So who is right? Is Harry Redknapp right to ban drinking or is Gazza right to say that players should be allowed to relax with a drink?

I still feel that drinking alcohol in moderation is perfectly acceptable for a footballer. Behave badly in public because of it and it becomes a totally different matter. A ban is not the answer. Teaching players to behave responsibly is.