While many believe the chance to enjoy a frosty pint during a match is appealing to many, Archie Macpherson is adamant that alcohol should never be allowed back into Scottish football grounds ever again.

The doyen of Scottish football speaks from bitter experience.

Macpherson was charged with the task of commentating on the 1980 Scottish Cup final between Celtic and Rangers for BBC TV.

A dour game ended with a 1-0 victory for Celtic courtesy of George McCluskey's goal in extra time.

The cup celebrations were then marred with shameful scenes which were beamed all over the world as supporters charged each other and bottles rained down on the turf.

Many fans were hurt in a match that has entered into Scottish football folklore and simply been dubbed 'The Hampden Riot'.

Some 210 fans were arrested (160 inside the stadium) and 100 people were injured including four policemen. Only the introduction of the mounted police on horseback brought any semblance of order.

One of the more iconic images of the 1980 Scottish Cup final was seeing police officer Elaine Kane pitched into a running battle against the warring fans on the back of her white horse Ballantrae.

The unfortunate events brought about an act of parliament in 1980 which made it illegal for spectators to consume alcohol inside football stadia.

READ MORE: Celtic announce alcohol licence allowing stadium drinking

However, it is Macpherson's legendary commentary that has become synonymous with the infamous final itself. The Sportscene commentator uttered such phrases as: "This is like a scene out of Apocalypse Now", "Where are the police, for heaven’s sake?", “It is pathetic, scandalous and disgraceful … at the end of the day, let’s not kid ourselves, these supporters hate each other.”

Macpherson though admits that he didn't flinch from putting himself at the forefront of it all behind the mic and TV camera. In fact, in terms of Macpherson's own career, it certainly did him no harm. His proclamations on that dark day for Scottish football are still widely quoted, even now.

After all, it is the game that Macpherson has been asked about more than any other in his long and distinguished media and broadcast career spanning over 40 years covering Scottish football.

Macpherson said: "There were two reasons why I jumped at the opportunity to say something about the Hampden riot in 1980. In a pragmatic sense, the riot was better than the game from a commentating perspective. The game was pretty awful. Both sides were hampered by the fear of losing. There is always that edge to these games. It is usually on the terracing and it is always in the park. In this case, it went to extremes for some reason and it was an awfully negative spectacle. The riot when it came was an opportunity for a commentator to get his teeth into. In that sense, I leapt at it.

"In a historic sense, it was a media platform. I am not saying I began to pontificate but I did make some comments economically and in the aftermath of it and the long aftermath of it, I ended up writing a book about it. It brought it to the fore for a lot of people who were getting complacent about our society and the divisions within it.

"It was a remarkable day. I saw the bottles flying and blood it really sunk in that this was an awful spectacle. These scenes were beamed around the world and it was a salutary lesson. The hatred still exists and we would be kidding ourselves if we felt that had evaporated. I suppose the internet as poisonous as it is at times has given supporters an opportunity to let rip rather than throw bottles. Football stadia are also now more modern and it is easier to police this kind of behaviour."

Almost 43 years on from the sickening spectacle, Macpherson does not want to see the return of alcohol to Scottish football grounds.

Macpherson said: "I would never bring drinking back to football matches. We are trying to reduce drink in society as a whole. There was a lot of criticism about terracing drinking and so on. I even worked with people in the media who could be legless after a game. Drinking was a professional sport in Scottish media at one stage, I don't know what it is like now.

"Sadly many of my friends are no longer with us because of drink. My answer to the question of bringing back alcohol to Scottish football grounds is no, absolutely never."