DEFENCE LESSONS FOR PREM CLUBS IN KNIFE TERROR
BLADE FEAR SPARKS TRAINING FOR COACHES
PREMIER League coaches are taking knife defence training amid fears they could be stabbed.
Football staff from Chelsea FC asked to be put on the courses in case they are attacked during community coaching sessions.
Bosses acted after one coach from the club’s foundation had to step in to stop a child getting out a knife during work at a project for youngsters.
The firm teaching the safety measures, C.O.B.R.A Defence Knife Awareness Training, is now also in talks with other clubs, including Spurs. It comes as knife crime in Britain reaches a new high, with fatal stabbings in London a concern for authorities.
The number of fatal stabbings in England and Wales last year was the highest since records began in 1946, official figures show.
There were 285 killings as a result of using a knife or sharp instrument in the 12 months ending March
2018, Office for National Statistics analysis shows.
Figures also show 25% of victims were black – the highest proportion since data was first collected in
1997.
Lee Fallon, from C.O.B.R.A Defence London, said he had trained Chelsea coaches taking part in the Premier League Kicks programme. He added: “All of them have the same fear, because the Kicks project is done in under-privileged areas and rough estates, “Coaches are having to put themselves out there in dangerous areas, and are hearing more about knife attacks. It’s a growing concern.They had an incident where a coach had to intercept a child getting a knife out and trying to attack another person, the coach had to restrain him.
“Luckily he dropped the weapon, but that raised high concerns. What if we get caught in an attack?”
Premier League Kicks came from the Kickz programme, a 2006 partnership between the league and police to use football to build safer, stronger communities.
Chelsea Foundation coaches offer the free programme in Wandsworth, Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, and Hammersmith and Fulham. It is described on the Premier League club’s website as bringing “together football in the community and the education department along with the club’s other charitable and community activities, including our international work and antidiscrimination projects”.
A Chelsea spokesman said: “We had a two-hour session with C.O.B.R.A. which proved useful for our coaches working on our social inclusion projects in and around London.”