Midland teams pay more than London sides to police games
THE big six West Midland football clubs were charged a total of £1.2 million for policing matches last season – more than 2.5 times the amount of all London clubs combined.
West Midlands Police billed Birmingham City £269,248 for policing games last season, according to data released to the Birmingham Post via Freedom of Information requests.
That was the eighth highest total in Britain and more than any other club in our region paid for policing.
Aston Villa were charged the next most (£267,415), followed by Wolves (£264,607), West Bromwich Albion (£213,906), Coventry City (£90,826) and Walsall (£55,955).
That comes to a combined total of just under £1.2 million.
London-based Premier League and EFL clubs, meanwhile, were charged a combined total of just £478,808.
Crystal Palace paid just £7,429 of that, while West Ham United forked out £41,973 and Arsenal £55,490.
The May 5 game between Aston Villa and Norwich was the most expensive individual match of any in the West Midlands.
That game cost Villa £41,696. After that comes Villa v West Brom (£40,754) then jointly Wolves v Manchester United, Birmingham v Stoke, Birmingham v Villa, and Birmingham v Leeds, all of which cost the clubs £21,175.
Nationally, Manchester United paid more for policing than any other club last season – £625,236.
Manchester City paid the next most at £595,822 followed by Liverpool at £590,739.
Leeds United (£459,798), Everton (£405,778) and Rangers (£306,770) were next.
Under current rules, clubs are only obliged to pay for policing in the stadium and on their land, leading to the taxpayer having to pick up large chunks of the bill for some clubs.
Muddying that, though, is the fact that clubs will also be paying tax as well.
Some police forces have yet to respond to the Freedom of Information requests, so the data is missing for 22 clubs from the top four divisions of English football, such as Brighton and Hull.
Almost £10 million was paid by clubs to the forces that did respond to the requests, however.
............................................... Manchester United........................£625,236 Manchester City ........................... £595,822 Liverpool.......................................... £590,739 Leeds United................................... £459,798 Everton ............................................£405,778 Rangers ........................................... £306,770 Sunderland...................................... £288,419 BIRMINGHAM CITY..................... £269,248 ASTON VILLA ................................. £267,415 WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS.. £264,607 Leicester City ................................ £258,858 Bournemouth .................................£239,582 Celtic ................................................. £227,361 Sheffield Wednesday ......................£217,286 Sheffield United ............................. £216,566 WEST BROMWICH ALBION .........£213,906 Wembley ......................................... £203,389 Derby County ................................ £200,748 Huddersfield Town .......................... £187,435 Newcastle United .......................... £180,636