Its records show it has served beer on the same site for 158 years, but now Scotland's oldest international rugby ground has been criticised over its licensing plans for a new multi-million pound stadium complex.
Edinburgh Academicals have defended moves to licence the club's stadium and six other premises at the new £8 million complex in Stockbridge after campaigners said the club should not seek to fund sport with cash raised from alcohol.
The club said alcohol has long been associated with sporting events at the ground and said it is offered and taken responsibly and that the licences it has applied for are in line with all other premises in the area including a neighbouring hotel.
A spokesman for the Save Stockbridge campaign said: "We now see the true horror of the Academicals' intentions.
"A massive licensed facility for every conceivable public event. Live music.
"Up to 6000 people. Suites of function rooms with bars. Licensed restaurants for hundreds of diners with drinkers spilling out onto the pavement.
"Yet another shop licensed for off-sales. Don't they know this is a residential area."
The spokesman added: "If a sport has to rely so heavily on alcohol to fuel its growth something is wrong."
"Comely Bank Road does not deserve to become the next Grassmarket.
"This is a residential area.
"Houses surround the proposed drinking emporium on three sides. There are two secondary schools in the next street.
"What sane person would licence a massive building in this location?"
It called on the Edinburgh City Council to stall any decision: "The board must defer consideration of these applications to a later meeting so that the public and statutory consultees like the police and NHS Lothian have the time to properly consider them.
"There is no urgency. The Accies haven't turned a sod yet. Because the board don't provide copies of the plans which accompany licence applications, the public have to visit the board's offices to even see what is proposed. They must be given time."
The campaigners said that as well as an alcohol licence for their massive premises, the club wants additional licences for s of the retail units, including a licensed restaurant seating 220 people and another licensed restaurant for 144 people, both with outside drinking and dining areas along Comely Bank Road.
The concerns come as the debate over alcohol at reports grounds has been revisited as Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy pushes plans to end the 35-year alcohol sale ban at football grounds.
Frank Spratt, Academicals' president, said the records at the club - the oldest club in Britain and first in the world to host an international rugby match in 1871, when Scotland beat England - show a beer tent at the ground in 1857.
He said: "It is a sports ground but we also have function suites and a museum.
"We are not just trying to make money from the sale of alcohol and it is not the only thing that will be here.
"Yes it is there but it has never really been an issue.
"There has been alcohol at the ground for the last 160 years almost."
Raeburn Place is the oldest international rugby ground in the world.
It is the home ground of the Edinburgh Academical Football Club and the Edinburgh Academical Cricket Club.
The ground derives its name from the adjacent street, Raeburn Place, which is the main street running through the Edinburgh suburb of Stockbridge.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.Â
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.Â
That is invaluable.Â
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article