On 30 October, the Manifesto Club partnered the FSF and the Battle of Ideas to host a meeting about the regulation of football fans.
Here is a post by Peter Lloyd, author of the Manifesto Club’s report ‘Criminalising Football Fans – The case Against ‘Bubble Matches’, summarising some conclusions from the meeting.
In the wake of the 30 October debate, we should seek:
A recognition that football is overwhelmingly a force for good with generally well behaved fans, and with grounds and surrounding areas extremely safe compared to other urban environments;
A change from seeing all football fans primarily as a problem (“a riot waiting to happen”) to one where they are seen as members of the public attending a sporting event;
A change in approach by all the authorities from blanket bans to targeting the individual or small groups of troublemakers causing trouble and breaking, or intent on breaking, the law;
A recognition that football grounds should be managed differently from other public or semi-public spaces, with boisterous behaviour, shouting, chanting and banter regarded as normal, acceptable and the essence of a football match atmosphere;
With those principles in place a lot of the incidents stemming from overregulation and poor stewarding and policing described at the debate would not have occurred. We could then see the back of:
Alcohol bans;
Routine and blanket searching of supporters;
Bubble matches;
The aggressive policing of speech;
The overuse of banning orders;
Section 27 of The Violent Crime Reduction Act being used to move on innocent supporters;
The blurring of the roles of stewards and police.
And the start of:
A more positive terrace culture with a degree of self policing seen as normal;
The introduction of Safe Standing Areas at stadiums which are currently all seater;
Personal searches only when there is a reasonable expectation of a problem and of finding something;
Banning orders only for violent offences;
Alcoholic drink being allowed on football coaches, trains, at stadium seats and on the terraces;
Transparency for football safety advisory group (SAG) decisions and the involvement of supporters in them;
Clearer rules and protocols for stewarding.
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