WEST Yorkshire Police today hit back at Leeds United after the club announced it is to sue the force amid a row over policing costs. Leeds United claim they have been overcharged thousands of pounds for policing home games. As previously reported, the club has issued a writ against Chief Constable Sir Norman Bettison demanding a re-assessment of policing costs since the start of the 2009 season. They claim the club should not have been charged for the costs of policing land not owned by the club. Leeds United want cash back with interest from the police if the force has charged the club more than the direct cost of deploying officers. West Yorkshire Police Deputy Chief Constable David Crompton said today: âWe are disappointed that it has been asserted publicly that the force has made a profit out of the policing arrangements at Elland Road â in fact, nothing could be further from the truth. âFor an average game at Elland Road, West Yorkshire Police deploy staff inside the ground, immediately outside to deal with crowd dispersal and traffic and also in Leeds city centre in case of trouble from unruly fans. âOn average this means that West Yorkshire Police use 100 staff per game, however LUFC only contribute towards 40 of them. For a high risk game such as the ones against Millwall and Cardiff, the total number of staff rises to well over 300 and LUFC only pay for 120 of them. In cash terms, this represents an underpayment of between £20,000 and in excess of £100,000 per game, therefore it is LUFC which is being supported at the expense of the taxpayer. âWest Yorkshire Police has carefully considered the potential to reduce the amount of staff we deploy at these games, however, this has to be balanced against the unfortunate fact that over several years a hardcore of Leeds fans have attracted more banning orders for hooliganism than almost any football club in the country, and we cannot ignore this fact when determining the best way to police games safely. âWe note that Leeds United Football Club looks almost identical to the company that went into administration in May 2007 whilst owing the taxpayer £80,000. This money has never been repaid nor has there been any offer to do so. As a result West Yorkshire Police has been compelled to require LUFC to pay in advance for policing each game in order to avoid the risk of further losses. âFinally, the police, together with other public services, have to make unprecedented savings in forthcoming years. It may now be time to ask whether it is right for police officers continue to be regularly drawn to Elland Road from their local beats at taxpayersâ expense, thereby subsidising the multi million pound football industry?â Could this back fire on Bates given the current financial climate I was not aware that we had to pay up front for Policing at the ground. Bates is objecting to paying for Policing land not owned by the club which is interesting as we do not own the ground . My interperation is that the club ( bates ) must own the ground if he is only objecting to paying for policing on ground he doesnt own .
On a serious note lads you'd get more of us coming up to ER if WYP lifted their stupid restriction on the service station ticket collection!
If you start been good boys, one day you might be able to come and play with your friends in the North. If you keep breaking our buses it won't be for a long time though!
I said on a serious note so I wouldn't have to throw back at you your hallows must have slipped! The fact is all clubs have a firm and were no different to anybody else the only difference is our reputation is one of the worst and it'll never change.
Police with draw co opperation council then withdraw licence for ground result no games What bothers me is the fact that this will result in a huge court bill either way paid for by the club Totally pointless fight to pick
it is supportes like millwall that make other teams bad boys all they ever want is bother at matches----but i brayed a few at er in my younger days and loved sending them ome ----FUKING BLEEDING---AH THE GOOD OLD DAYS
Billyboy Were you sober in them days,? sorry if i turned you into a bad boy, call the Police if you can find one,
