{"id":675226,"date":"2026-07-05T15:41:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T15:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/675226\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T15:41:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T15:41:15","slug":"andy-burnham-calls-for-legislation-change-during-hill-dickinson-stadium-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/675226\/","title":{"rendered":"Andy Burnham calls for legislation change during Hill Dickinson Stadium visit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andy Burnham is expected to succeed Sir Keir Starmer in Downing Street this month – but he was in attendance on day one of Magic Weekend 2026\"Andy<\/p>\n

Andy Burnham (Image: (Nigel French\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n

Andy Burnham backed calls allowing football supporters to drink alcohol in the stands at matches after describing Everton as one of the greatest loves of his sporting life. Burnham is a season ticket holder at Hill Dickinson Stadium<\/a> and has followed the Blues since the early 1970s.<\/p>\n

The newly elected MP for Makerfield witnessed the club’s rise during the 80s, their fall in the mid-90s and everything that has followed since. Burnham also has strong links with Super League club Leigh Leopards, having previously been the town\u2019s MP, so it was no surprise that he was in attendance for their Magic Weekend victory over Warrington<\/a> Wolves on Saturday evening.<\/p>\n

But after watching Leigh run out 24-6 winners over Sam Burgess\u2019 side, the 56-year-old took to social media to confirm he wants to look into changing laws to allow football fans in the top leagues to drink alcohol in their seats like rugby fans can.<\/p>\n

Fans in the UK cannot drink at their seats due to the Sporting Events Act 1985, which legally prohibits consuming alcohol within direct view of the pitch.<\/p>\n

But Burnham, in a video that included Liverpool Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram holding what looked like a pint of lager, said: \u201cI’ve only got one question though about this day today… how come these lads can do that in my seat here when we can’t do that at an Everton home game? There’s something wrong there, we need to take a look at that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking ahead of the game, Burnham also opened up on his love for the Blues and the Betfred Super League side.<\/p>\n

He said: “In the early 80s, Everton<\/a> were having one of their many bad phases, and my brother said, ‘Leigh are doing alright, let’s go and jump on the bandwagon’.<\/p>\n

\"Andy<\/p>\n

Andy Burnham enjoys a drink as he watched Leigh Leopards beat Warrington Wolves at Hill Dickinson Stadium(Image: (Lee Parker – CameraSport\/CameraSport via Getty Images))<\/p>\n

“It was the season of Des Drummond and John Woods, I saw Leigh lift that championship at Hill Park. I go a lot. I was the MP for Leigh, and I\u2019ve worked with Mr (Derek) Beaumont over the years and on the building of the Leigh Sports Village.<\/p>\n

“It does my heart so good to see Leigh playing in my home ground, Everton Football Club<\/a>. These are the two greatest loves of my sporting life! This is massive for me!”<\/p>\n

Burnham, during the interview on Sky Sports, was then asked by former St Helens<\/a> star John Wilkin what makes a greater leader and as well as hailing Everton boss David Moyes, he couldn\u2019t help but have a cheeky dig at the Scot.<\/p>\n

\"Andy<\/p>\n

Andy Burnham meets a supporter on day one Magic Weekend 2026 at Hill Dickinson Stadium(Image: (Nigel French\/PA Wire))<\/p>\n

“It’s a great question,\u201d he said. “It’s about setting high ambitions but being prepared to walk in everybody’s shoes and understand how everyone in the team is feeling and showing that you are prepared to stand beside them.<\/p>\n

“We’ve got a great leader here in Adrian Lam, but I’m actually thinking of the great David Moyes, who very much is a person who understands people and gets the best out of them.”<\/p>\n

Before he added: \u201cAs Mayor of Greater Manchester, I followed the Moyes playbook and I probably did better than him in Manchester than David Moyes<\/a> did in Manchester.”<\/p>\n

Burnham, who is expected to succeed Sir Keir Starmer<\/a> in Downing Street this month, also promised to back rugby league ‘from the highest office’ if he becomes Prime Minister.<\/p>\n

Get Everton’s new 2026\/27 home kit<\/p>\n

This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more<\/a>\"Content<\/p>\n

\u00a380<\/p>\n

Kitbag<\/p>\n

Buy Now on Kitbag<\/a><\/p>\n

Everton have launched their new home kit for the 2026\/27 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a former president of the Rugby Football League and to have that honour was huge for me,\u201d the former president of the Rugby Football League said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would back this sport from the highest office. Sir Lindsay Hoyle does that with great distinction as Speaker of the House of Commons and perhaps the two of us can form a pretty powerful axis if it does come to pass for the sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis sport does need more. It\u2019s a brilliant spectacle, but I think rugby league deserves more. We saw Sir Kevin (Sinfield) get his rightful recognition, but where is rugby league\u2019s recognition more broadly? Where\u2019s the investment in the grassroots facilities?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to see more backing for the sport at every single level. You\u2019ll have two very powerful backers if all of the plans are fulfilled.\u201d<\/p>\n

FOLLOW OUR EVERTON FC FACEBOOK PAGE! Latest EFC news and analysis from via the Liverpool Echo\u2019s dedicated FB page<\/a><\/p>\n

Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix and Disney+ with Ultimate TV package<\/p>\n

This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more<\/a>\"Content<\/p>\n

Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of the Premier League and EFL.<\/p>\n

Sky broadcasts more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more with at least 215 live from the top flight alongside Formula 1, darts and golf.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andy Burnham is expected to succeed Sir Keir Starmer in Downing Street this month – but he was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":675227,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[19306,2765,2689,49,50,20370,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-675226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-andy-burnham","tag-david-moyes","tag-everton-fc","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-rugby-league","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=675226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/675227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=675226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=675226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=675226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}