Policing costs for Blues and Villa derby revealed Huge force presence at clash

LAST season’s explosive Second City derby between Birmingham City and Aston Villa was the second most heavily policed match in Britain, new figures reveal.

West Midlands Police deployed 457 officers, even though the clash last October was moved to a Sunday lunchtime kick-off to guard against the risk of violence.

That worked out to one officer for every 53 fans at the match – at a cost of £41,244 to Blues as the hosting club – according to published data and Freedom of Information requests by the BBC’s Shared Data Unit.

Despite the high volume of uniformed officers in and around St Andrew’s, trouble still flared. Police were pelted with missiles and complimentary clappers provided to fans by Blues. As many as 70 people were thought to have been involved in the ugly scenes.

Inspector Andy Bridgewater, head of the force’s Football Unit, said: “The figures underline our efforts to ensure supporters can enjoy local derbies in a safe environment.

“There was a highly visible police presence in and around St Andrew’s as part of the force’s policing plan for the fixture.

“We charge football clubs for policing in the precincts of the ground, including the stadium and car parks, but the force is not able to charge clubs for the associated cost of getting extra officers on the ground in surrounding streets and pubs on matchdays.

“The vast majority of supporters enjoyed the occasion and were wellbehaved but there was some disorder after the match that saw objects being thrown at officers.

“It’s completely unacceptable and it was lucky no-one was hurt. A total of 45 people have been prosecuted in connection with the trouble.”

The force was unable to disclose the sum it charged Villa to police the return fixture or how many officers it deployed at Villa Park in February.

West Midlands Police charged clubs in English football’s top four divisions £623,280 during the first half of the season, for which figures are available.

But the force would not reveal how much money it cost the taxpayer to actually police the matches under its jurisdiction.

According to the figures Blues hosted three of the 10 most heavily policed games.

The most expensive policing operation in the Championship was the Steel City derby between Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United at Hillsborough in September.

The game cost £203,000 to police, although Wednesday were invoiced for £41,000.