But on the other hand, is it much of a hardship not to have a couple of hours off from eating pies?
I don't see the problem with having a beer at half-time, from a social perspective and not just to get steaming. It's unlikely that anyone would have more than one pint in a 15 minute sitting and it would hopefully be regulated in such a fashion that if you were drunk, you wouldn't get served. I've been to several games in Germany where beer is sold throughout the game and, if anything, we never had as much to drink before the game, instead choosing to have a few whilst watching the football and I much preferred it that way.