57 travel-restricting ‘bubble’ football matches

In the Manifesto Club report, Criminalising Football Fans, Peter Lloyd documented the heavy-handed use of travel restrictions for football fans, known as ‘bubble matches’. At these matches away-fans are banned from travelling by car or public transport, and can only travel by licensed coaches from specified pick-up points.

This is a major inconvenience, and gross interference on the freedom of movement of the majority of law-abiding fans.

In April 2012, Peter Lloyd found that there had been 48 ‘bubble’ matches. He now reports there have been seven ‘bubble’ matches since the publication of the report, and two matches are scheduled in the next two months. This takes the total to 57 ‘bubble’ matches, affecting hundreds of thousands of football fans. These are listed below.

The Manifesto Club is calling for the abolition of ‘bubble matches’, which are unnecessary, draconian, and at base a means of punishing the innocent majority rather than the disorderly few.

Bubble matches since April 2012:

    Leeds United v Millwall 2.3.13
    Blackburn v Burnley 17.3.13
    Huddersfield Town v Hull City 30.3.13
    Wrexham v Chester 31.8.13
    Burnley v Blackburn 14.9.13
    Cardiff City v Swansea City 3.11.13
    Swansea City v Cardiff City 7.2.14

Scheduled:

    Leeds United v Millwall 22.3.14
    Chester v Wrexham 19.4.14


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