Utterly ridiculous... A group which represents football fans in England and Wales says it's time to end the 'draconian' bubble match restrictions on derby matches involving Chester FC and Wrexham. The call, made by the Football Supporters' Federation, follows a Freedom of Information (FoI) request by The Chronicle which revealed there was one police officer for every 23 fans at last year's match at the Lookers Vauxhall Stadium. Since 2013, 'bubble match' restrictions have meant away fans of both clubs have been transported to and from the games under police escort, in an effort to stamp out crowd trouble which has sometimes blighted past fixtures. But the feeling among many supporters is that the measures are too heavy-handed and it has led to claims the heavy policing has sucked the life out of the keenly-contested fixture. The figures Our FoI request revealed that a total of 162 officers and 38 police vehicles were deployed by Cheshire Constabulary for the October derby in Chester, which was attended by 3,714 fans. In contrast, 166 officers and 29 vehicles were used across three days to police last year's May Day Festival at Chester Racecourse, an event attended by more than 54,000 people in total from Wednesday to Friday. http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/chester-fc-v-wrexham-bubble-11284491
Would be interesting to compare the police figures for Beverley Ladies Day which normallyresults in more arrests with a crowd of 14,000 than at City matches with 400,000+ attending. Always mobile cells st the KC but not st Beverley.Of course football games are an easy way of making money for them. The money isn't as available at racing or rugby league.
If they just arrested anyone fighting at a football ground and banged them up for 2 years, they'd soon get the message.
My biggest grumble is that fighting happens far more often at other sport's venues than at football yet it's only football that faces draconian consequence. That's because the plod are able to exploit football clubs for the money they're unable to exploit off other sports. Leed to WYP to task & won, other clubs should follow suit. There is a serious need for a set of non discriminatory & consistent rules & fees which are extended, in principle, across all sporting venues.
I agree. Letting footy fans fight though is not the answer. Because of our legacy from past few decades, we're easy money I agree. Sadly, it's also necessary in some circumstances. Imagine them taking a low key policing presence of this match. Then something like what happened to the Cambridge fan (who was just a regular fan btw), and someone ends up dead or in a coma. Who's gonna get blamed? The police. Who will suffer the most? The family first, then the rest of the fans. I do think it could be policed better, but mention intelligence led policing, and the usual ****s will jump in with jokes about that, without any understanding whatsoever of what goes on in the background. Less police presence means more likelihood of ****s fighting and causing a ****ing nuisance. So what do they do? That's rhetorical btw, no one on here, despite a few with inflated views of their own intelligence, can answer that with any conviction. Personally I think all anti social behaviour should be stamped down on. Custodial sentences should be dished out. Of course that then means our prison system needs a good sort out too.
