An account giving an overview of the treatment of football fans - including within the criminal justice system
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Top Tips If You're Arrested or asked to attend a police station for an interview.
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RT @MelissaReddy_: “When you work at horse racing or cricket or a concert, those are seen as policing an event. Football is seen as policin…
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Match Goer retweeted
It should also be pointed out, that UK Football Policing conveniently ignore this from the final Taylor report. When talking about alcohol bans, he says:
“I hope, in halcyon days ahead, a better atmosphere at football grounds may justify bans being relaxed."
This is low, even by the standards of the UK Football policing unit, casually linking the Taylor report post Hillsborough and football tragedies to changes in the law on drinking at matches
Drinking in view of the pitch didn’t cause deaths or injuries - policing failures did
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Having been hit on the back of the head with a full pint glass at a Paul Weller gig a few years ago (at the intro to a Town called Malice), I still think looking to overturn this outdated legislation - which won't automatically mean all fans can drink in view - is a great idea.
Having been hit with a pint thrown from the upper tier when Watkins scored against the Netherlands in Dortmund at Euro 2024, I don’t think this is a good idea.
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Match Goer retweeted
The problem with football's alcohol ban isn't 'discrimination', it's that it is ineffective at reducing alcohol related disorder and that it more likely increases, rather than reduces, risks to public safety. The law needs changing, not just taking about.
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c933…
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I'm missing the point? It doesn't have to be against the law to not have drinking in the stands, therefore criminilising those who fall foul of it. It can be part of the safety cert, the alcohol licence, gnd regs and ticket T&Cs thus still not being allowed unless agreed locally
You're missing the point. I don't care about the legality side, I don't want people drinking in the stands because there are too many dickheads incapable of controlling themselves without throwing £8 pints into the air. That's not an experience people want.
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Match Goer retweeted
Agreed. I see this as a two-part process:
1. Remove the discriminatory ban (another relic of the Thatcher era).
2. Let clubs and their fans decide where/when alcohol can be drunk in their ground/stands.
Prime Minister, the actual PM, not a fan rep: “Let’s look at the legislation (which criminalises fans) with a view to making football equal to other events/sports”.
Fans en masse "Ooo, no thanks, somebody might throw beer on me”.
Wow. Never seen a point so spectacularly missed
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Prime Minister, the actual PM, not a fan rep: “Let’s look at the legislation (which criminalises fans) with a view to making football equal to other events/sports”.
Fans en masse "Ooo, no thanks, somebody might throw beer on me”.
Wow. Never seen a point so spectacularly missed
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Match Goer retweeted
This is low, even by the standards of the UK Football policing unit, casually linking the Taylor report post Hillsborough and football tragedies to changes in the law on drinking at matches
Drinking in view of the pitch didn’t cause deaths or injuries - policing failures did
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Burnham isn’t saying “you must drink in the stands” or “every part of every stadium must allow fans to knock back 7 pints in the first half”, is he?
Getting rid of the laws will allow clubs to have sensible, mature conversations with fans to explore what might work for them
Whilst I understand Andy Burnham not wanting football fans to be demonised in relation to other sections of society and I make him right, I have zero desire to have drinking in the stands.
People will be in an out all the time to get a beer or have a piss, it's unnecessary.
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1. The response to this has been a tad knicker wetting not least, unsurprisingly, from police chiefs who love nothing more than not contributing to discussions with calm rationale and reason, rather hyperbole justifying over policing and over legislating of fans.
🚨 NEW: Andy Burnham is set to scrap the law that bans football fans from drinking in the stands
"I don’t see how it can be fair that some supporters of one sport can be treated differently"
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3. Get rid of the laws that make drinking on a coach illegal, drinking in view of the pitch illegal and entering a stadium drunk and people attending matches will then be equal to other sports.
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Interesting that the narrative is already that the “Dockers Derby” was incident free because of the “officers on the ground” and “partners” and not despite them and the reality being that the overwhelming majority of fans attended without any desire to kick a rivals head in.
Thank you to our officers on the ground, as well as partners at @MillwallFC and @WestHam, who worked to ensure the Dockers Derby took place without significant disruption across south east London – allowing attending fans to enjoy the match safely.
A total of six arrests have taken place as of 16:00hrs on Saturday, 19 September. Offences include tailgating, assault on a police officer, and entering or attempting to enter a stadium while intoxicated. All remain in custody.
As a reminder, a Section 35 dispersal order remains in place until 23:59hrs tonight, allowing officers to remove anyone causing disorder. It will cover the area shown on the map.
Our Live Facial Recognition deployment in London Bridge resulted in three arrests, including one man who was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply class A drugs and possession of a bladed article. None of these were related to football.
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With S60 and dispersal orders, covering a large part of central London the Met are sending out a message that a football match is something to be inherently feared.
More tension is being created by police than the few thousand people actually attending the match.
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Match Goer retweeted
Ahead of tomorrow’s match between West Ham and Milwall, the Met have posted on X that there will be a section 35 Dispersal Order in force.
What does it mean?
Watch this video to find out more.
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So... MFC v WHUFC is "interesting". It's a high-risk fixture, the rivalry is raw and presents a serious operational challenge for the Met. But a nearly 10 sq mile S35 dispersal zone across SE London feels unprecedented and a significant escalation in football policing tactics.
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Nobody wants safety compromised. The test is whether an operation of this scale is genuinely proportionate risk management, or risk aversion.
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