David Seaman on football’s drinking culture, friends' struggles with alcohol and having more conversations about drinking

We invited him back to his former club, Queen’s Park Rangers in West London, to discuss how drinking culture in football has evolved, his experiences with friends struggling with alcohol and the importance of having open conversations about drinking.  

“It brings back so many great memories being back at Loftus Road,” Seaman says, reflecting on his time at the club.       

“Even being out in the hallway there, I've just spotted myself on the wall and I could have had a ponytail back then. I didn't realise my hair was that long. The tash was always there, I was born with the tash. I remember the plastic pitch and just playing with so many different players, big stars as well; Alan Brazil, Ossie Ardiles, Peter Reid, Ray Wilkins, Mark Falco.” 

The relationship between football and alcohol  

Football and alcohol have often gone hand-in-hand, with many fans enjoying a few drinks during and after a game - a tradition Seaman himself enjoys. 

“I enjoy having a glass of wine with a meal, a few beers after, or even at a game. If I’m honest I’d probably be a moderate drinker because I enjoy a drink, but it's all in moderation,” he explains.     

However, his experiences at Euro 2020 reminded him of the negative side of the drinking culture in football. 

“What I saw there [at Wembley], with the fans and alcohol, wasn't a very good experience. It's sad, and it's times like that where you think, ‘Do you really need to be that drunk?’ It's about celebrating football, but I doubt if a lot of the people remember the game if I'm honest,” he recalls.    

Seaman stresses that issues surrounding excessive drinking aren’t just a problem in football or sport, but a wider societal issue.    

“When you go out to a show or a game you want to be entertained and you have a couple of drinks, but there are people that just take it too far, and I think that's where the problem comes," he says.    

Reflecting on his time as a player, Seaman finds it difficult to compare the culture then to now, as so much has changed. Now he says, there’s more media coverage and people share videos of the problems on social media when they are happening.

The infamous Tuesday Club   

During his time at Arsenal in the 1990s, Seaman was a regular at the infamous Tuesday Club - team bonding nights that often-involved heavy drinking.   

“At Arsenal, we used to have a Tuesday club. George Graham was the manager then and we'd be off on a Wednesday. So, we would arrange to go out on Tuesday afternoon. Nearly all the squad would go out either to the races, a restaurant, or a bar,” Seaman recalls.   

“We used to do this regularly, but while some people would have one or two drinks, others would have three or four, and some people would carry the Tuesday club into the Wednesday, Thursday club.”  

It was during this time that Seaman began to realise “how much you can and can't drink,” often finding himself looking after teammates who drank too much.

 For Seaman, it was surprising when some of his famous teammates publicly admitted they were struggling with alcohol. 

“I didn't know how to spot it back then; I was so involved in my own world. But, the more times we went out, the same people would get really drunk. That's the only bit I could spot really - you're all having a few beers, just some had more than others.” 

He admits, back when he was playing there weren’t many people talking openly about alcohol and drinking was just something that “everybody did”. 

How to have conversations about drinking  

In 2019, Seaman took part in the ITV documentary, Harry’s Heroes, with his former teammate Paul Merson and retired footballer Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock, whose problems with gambling and alcohol were laid bare on the show.  

“It shows you how it can get bottled up. Even with Paul Merson in Harry's Heroes, he broke down with me and told everybody on TV that he had a gambling problem again. And we were surprised. You don't see it coming.   

“And then the same thing with Razor. Merson hit a nerve with Razor about his drinking and he didn't like it. Paul knows because he's been through it, and that's what he said on Harry's Heroes, saying, ‘That's exactly what I was like, I want to try and help you’, but it triggered Razor. After the show aired, Razor took to Instagram to praise his friend for speaking out and thanked him after he found out how bad his health was.    

“That was the beauty of Harry’s Heroes, we thought we were just getting ready to play Germany for a game, but then it turned into this whole program about men's health and problems as well - that's why it was so successful,” Seaman adds.   

Having supported friends over the years, Seaman is now backing Drinkaware’s campaign, encouraging people to have more conversations about their drinking by taking the Drinking Check - a free online alcohol quiz.    

"It’s important to understand what you are consuming, what's a risky level, what's a dangerous level. And then the results are there for you to talk about,” he says.    

“If you've got a problem, if you keep it in your own head, it gets bigger and worse. Campaigns like this and the more campaigns there are, the more people talk about it openly the better it’s going to be. Trying to make people feel more comfortable talking to other people about drinking, whether that be online or face-to-face, especially with a friend to start with, could really help.”   

“Now, it's getting better and better all the time. People are speaking about it more and are not afraid to say, ‘Hang on, core you had a few last night’.”    

Seaman believes having open conversations is important to understand your drinking habits but emphasises the best way to support someone who's struggling with alcohol is to simply be for them.      

“Try and give them your advice and your help, but also be aware that sometimes they won't listen, but there might be just one day where they do listen, and it really helps them,” he says.