Boroughmuir Thistle joins calls to support the alcohol sponsorship ban

Boroughmuir Thistle, the biggest female-only football club in Scotland, have backed the campign to ban alcohol sponsorship across all sport.

A report released in November 2022 revealed that Scotland has the second highest proportion of alcohol sports sponsors across ten top-flight football leagues in Europe. As a result, the ‘Calling Time’ campaign, led by Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP), has called for a ban on alcohol sponsors in sports, with Boroughmuir the most recent club to support the campaign.

“Boroughmuir Thistle is the largest female football club in Scotland,” said chair Gavin Michie. “We deliver 1,700 player hours per week so that girls and women of all abilities can fulfil their potential. As a club, we aim to provide a positive, supportive environment to allow this. We are proud past winners of the SWF National Performance League Cup sponsored by SHAAP.

“It is vitally important, as female football receives more media and public attention, that we take responsibility for ensuring a positive, healthy and nurturing environment. As a club, therefore, we will not accept alcohol branding or sponsorship to capitalise on the emotional connection our supporters have with Boroughmuir Thistle.”

Boroughmuir stands in defiance against alcohol sponsorship. Credit: Colin Hattersley

Every day in Scotland, almost 100 people are hospitalised and three people die purely because of alcohol. The Calling Time campaign believes that continued exposure to alcohol through marketing is helping to drive the crisis. Boroughmuir hope taking this stance that others will follow suit. However, many clubs rely on sponsorship from alcohol brands and are reluctant to cut off an important revenue stream.

“Boroughmuir Thistle FC is to be applauded for their stance,” Dr Alastair MacGilchrist, chair of SHAAP said. “I would urge all football and sports clubs to consider their role in promoting a healthy, supportive environment and as such reject sponsorship from the alcohol industry, as Scottish Women’s Football has done.

“In a nation where nearly a quarter of us are drinking at hazardous and harmful levels, and the number of people dying due to alcohol is increasing again, we need to see reasonable, evidenced measures such as a ban on sports sponsorship taken forward to reset our relationship with alcohol.”