New rules on tailgate parties had some longtime football fans grumbling before the Calgary Stampeders first game of the CFL season Thursday night.

In a joint crackdown by McMahon Stadium, the football team, Calgary police and the Alberta Liquor Control Board, tailgaters are being asked to shut down their informal parties an hour after kickoff, and to restrict their pre-game gatherings to one parking stall.

"The scope and size of some of the setups, it just makes it impossible to park the cars," said stadium manager John Haverstock. "And there's a lot of people who come here with parking passes who have no interest in tailgating. And we can't get them to park because there's lawn chairs and barbecues in the parking stalls."

'We come here. We party. We're good folks.'—Jim Bedore, tailgater

Jim Bedore, a longtime Stamps fan who said he attends tailgate parties every home game, said he noticed fewer and quieter tailgate parties on Thursday, and blames the new rules.

He said he feels the restrictions are penalizing the majority of people who behave themselves.

"We weren't breaking any rules. We never broke a rule. We come here. We party. We're good folks," he said. "I'm 64. I'm not going to chase anybody down through the park."

Officials also asked people to respect the law of no open liquor.

"Generally our role is to keep the peace. And the reason this was all put together was because there was a lot of drunkenness, lewd, inappropriate behaviour," said Calgary police spokesman Kevin Brookwell.

Calgary police, who had more than 30 officers patrolling the stadium parking lot, said they issued a few warnings and tickets but found that most tailgaters were well-behaved.

Tailgater Kathy Bonham Curtis said she supports the crackdown as long as it focuses on those who are getting out of hand.

"Definitely needed regulations. But they should be enforced. And they should be enforced fairly. Crack down on those that are being rowdy and unruly and leave those of us that are being good alone," she said.

But Bedore said he and several others are reconsidering buying tickets for upcoming Stampeders home games.

"We are the guys that every game, for the love of the sport, give this Stampede stadium … the greatest bag of free advertising in the world: hot dogs, hamburgers, people singing and dancing, minding their business," he said, adding that "99.9 per cent of the people that come here are marvelous."

The Stampeders beat the B.C. Lions Thursday night 28-18.