WHAT IS FOOTBALL’S STRATEGY? FINGERS CROSSED? THAT IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH

THERE must have been a point, with knife crime, when its rise was first noticed. When one of the many government officials paid to pore through statistics noticed a trend emerging, a spike in the numbers of young deaths or injuries caused by the carrying of weapons. And for us to be where we are now — knife attacks up by 16 per cent in London in 2018 and eight per cent nationwide — there must also have been a point where, having made that observation, nothing was done. That is where football is now. It can see a growing problem, yet chooses not to act. It is still in the business of creating safe spaces for individuals to behave badly — except those individuals are growing in confidence and belligerence. That Jack Grealish was not the first footballer to be confronted by a fan during the weekend fixtures, shows the dangerous direction being travelled. Abuse of players is almost too commonplace to mention and increasingly condoned. Assault is rare but, as the incidents at Hibernian and now Birmingham City indicate, not rare enough. James Tavernier of Rangers ended up in a shoving match with a fan, but the assault on Jack Grealish of Aston Villa was a terrifying escalation. He was punched, from behind by a man running full pelt towards him on the blindside. Thankfully, the thug was no athlete, or fighter, and failed to connect with any great force. Grealish was felled, but got up swiftly and later scored the only goal of the game as Villa won. It would take a heart of stone not to laugh. Yet, obviously, it could have been worse. The man could have struck with the savagery intended, he could have carried a weapon, or a blunt object in his hand as he did. Grealish could have been seriously injured. A blindside punch from Paul Davis, the former Arsenal player, broke the jaw of Southampton’s Glenn Cockerill during a match in 1988. Like Cockerill, Grealish did not know what was coming. Horrible injuries can be caused by a single punch. Grealish was extraordinarily lucky. Cockerill was eating through a straw for weeks. And what is football’s strategy from here? Fingers crossed? It isn’t good enough. There should be no safe spaces for anti-social behaviour. No safe spaces for abuse, or threats of violence, because we have seen the next step. The media took the rap for the abuse of Raheem Sterling, allowing bogus mitigation for some deeply unpleasant people. Already, in the aftermath of the Grealish attack, questions are being asked of the stewards, while apologists are keen to stress the assailant was just one of 30,000 present. True, but many more cheered the crowing thug as he was led away. Cheered in the knowledge football would not act in any way that would affect them, would not close St Andrew’s, or crack down on a spite fuelled culture of aggression. The Football League rushed out a statement — mistakenly saying it condoned the behaviour, rather than condemned it — which, by the end, was pointing out the incident fell within the remit of the Football Association. So what happens in a Football League match is not, in any way, a matter for the Football League? How desperate to do nothing are they? ‘In all circumstances the playing surface is for players, not supporters and those playing in the game must be able to do so safe in the knowledge they will not be subjected to this type of behaviour,’ read the League’s statement. Surely this is the bottom-line requirement? There has to be more. Serious custodial sentences, rather than just stadium bans for individuals, obviously — but the end of safe, anti-social spaces, too. Zero tolerance of threat, of extremes of abuse, with the potential for punishment that promotes self-policing — stadium closure, points deduction. Would Grealish’s attacker have been such a hero had the game been forfeited within minutes and given as a 3-0 win to Aston Villa, five points been deducted from Birmingham this season, or the next three games played behind closed doors? Alternately, wait for this to reach its logical conclusion, roll our eyes and say we did all we could.