FOOTBALL MATCHES have never been the target of a terrorist attack in Britain but it would be "naive" to think that might not change in the future, according to Scotland's leading official on stadium security.

Last weekend's attempted car bombing at Glasgow Airport brought international terrorism to Scotland for the first time and prompted an immediate assessment of how and where the country might be vulnerable to large-scale attacks in the future.

Airports, planes, tube or train networks and nightclubs have been the principle targets of Al-Qaeda cells since the Twin Tower attacks of September 11, 2001, although there has always been a recognition that major sporting events may be targeted too given the relative ease with which security could be breached in order to infiltrate huge crowds of potential victims.

The difficulty for football and other large sporting events is that thorough, airport-style security measures at stadium turnstiles would be impractical: supporters would find it so inconvenient and irritating that crowds would diminish dramatically and clubs from the SPL down would be financially strangled.

Instead, a process of risk-assessment and intelligence-gathering from the government and the security services, as well as covert operations by police officers on match days, will continue as the principle means of seeing that football across Britian remains free from terrorism.

In the aftermath of the Glasgow attacks, though, the new honorary president of the Football Safety Officers Association (Scotland) said everyone who attended a game - including police, stewards, club staff and supporters - had a duty to be vigilant about what was going on around them.

Sir John Orr said: "In light of recent events there is no doubt that it would be naive not to consider that any large sporting event could be a future target. Every fixture is risk-assessed with the police. My view on these issues is that an alarmist or knee-jerk response would be unhelpful. That sort of stance is dangerous because you are then tilting the balance of your reaction in favour of the terrorists.

"It would be naive to think that these type of events would never be considered as a possible target but it is about striking the right balance. We have to ensure that football remains not only a safe environment but an enjoyable one. The moment you tip the balance too far away from our grounds feeling like an enjoyable environment, that is when ordinary supporters begin to get discouraged about coming along.

"It will require extra vigilance by all concerned at football matches, and that includes stewards, the police and supporters as well. There is a dependency on good intelligence regarding the current threat levels and in Scotland it helps that there are excellent relationships between the eight police forces and the football clubs."

Orr, the former chief constable of Strathclyde Police and chairman of Kilmarnock, is enthusiastic about the role and influence of the Football Safety Officers Association. It was established in 1997 and now every Scottish club is connected to it via a dedicated safety officer who liaises with supporters and the police on aspects specific to their club.

Broader issues such as the imposition of banning orders for offences at matches - only two have been issued by Scottish courts, to the association's frustration - are also on its agenda as is a discrepancy with club licensing which means Scottish clubs have to pay thousands of pounds to put stadium staff through training courses while their English counterparts are exempt.

Then there is the contentious debate about whether it will be feasible to reintroduce the sale of alcohol at Scottish football. There is a sense that the will is there for drink to be available to fans again, but the issue is controversial given that it was banned in the first place because of rioting by Celtic and Rangers supporters after the 1980 Scottish Cup final which was partly down to drunkenness. That led to the prohibition of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act but the recent relaxation which will allow alcohol sales for rugby matches at Murrayfield led to a lobby for football to be rehabilitated too.

Drink sales would be a money-spinner for clubs but the police are wary. A season-long pilot scheme has been suggested as the way to test whether fans can again be trusted to drink responsibly before and during matches. A scheme would be meaningless unless it included a club with a large support attending derbies and other tense and competitive games. That is why either Celtic or Rangers fans probably will be selected as one of two sets of supporters - the other perhaps from a smaller SPL club - who will be able to buy alcohol at their home games during a season-long experiment, possibly in 2008-9.

Orr would not discuss how a pilot scheme would work but supported the idea in principle.

"The events of 1980 left an indelible mark on the scene but life moves on and I am a great believer in having a structured, systematic, measured look at issues.

"A pilot scheme on reintroducing the sale of alcohol at football grounds would be the way forward. It must be done cautiously and with the full support of the police and all the relevant parties. My own personal view would be that it would be a step too far to have a blanket return of alcohol sales until we have the evidence from a pilot scheme."