Taylor warns of booze danger
WALES icon John Taylor has warned the WRU about the dangers of a ‘serious accident’ at the Principality Stadium fuelled by alcohol.
Taylor was a recent victim of drunken behaviour at what’s been dubbed the world’s biggest pub, forced to abandon his £100 seat halfway through the Wales-Australia match six weeks ago.
“They have to do something about it,” the Grand Slam veteran said. “If they don’t, they are going to have a serious accident on their hands. Those concrete steps are pretty unforgiving.
“Trying to watch the Australia match was a hell of a bad experience. You are sitting in a £100 seat but you can’t watch the game because people are constantly going to and from the bars with trays carrying four pints.
“One guy went up and down three times in the first-half and tripped over on his way back up on the third occasion.
“He can’t have seen any of the game and disrupted the view of about 50 people who had to keep going up and down like yo-yos.
“The bars should be closed for kick-off and kept closed until the end of the game.
“I don’t want to be a killjoy but we had to abandon our seats at half-time.
Gerald is worried about this too, says Taylor
Taylor plans to watch Wales’ next home match, against Scotland in the Six Nations, not in the expensive seats but in the ex-internationals’ block behind the goalposts.
“I feel a lot more comfortable there than in the top priced seats,” he says. “I definitely wouldn’t even consider going back to where I tried to watch the Australia match from.”
Taylor describes the experience as ‘more of a beer-fest than it ever was before’.
He has spoken to WRU president Gerald Davies.
“Gerald is one person with whom I’ve had a conversation,” says Taylor. “It’s something that worries him. Have I had any reaction from other channels within the WRU? No.”
The WRU refuse to acknowledge drunken behaviour as a problem. They have said nothing publicly on the matter in the face of recurring examples of families having suffered quite literally from the fall-out of drunken fans.
Others have vowed never to go back, some claiming they feel safer watching the Wales football team at the Cardiff City stadium where fans are not allowed to take drinks to their seats.
As with any other facet of the alcohol issue, the WRU’s stance is the same: Nothing to say.
