A PROBLEM WE HAVE TO SOLVE
FOOTBALL’S problem with attracting the excrement of society is sadly flushing its way through NonLeague football – and clubs cannot risk letting it hit the fan.
Monday’s Southern League Premier Division Central play-off final between Peterborough Sports and Coalville Town was the latest showpiece to be marred by violence and intimidation that affected the innocent more than the morons.
Sadly, this season’s increasing stream of club statements apologising for or calling out such behaviour shows this is no longer an outlier.
This time the goading, standoff and seemingly obligatory throwing of an unfinished pint followed by lit pyrotechnics start then coins, stones and bits ripped off the sides of buildings.
A dad with a pram breaks through the crowd to safety. He is followed by a man being pushed in a wheelchair, ducking and hoping he is not about to be caught from behind. A child cowers in his seat in the stand, flinching as coins menacingly thwack against his only shelter.
The line of police and stewards between the mobs only seems to fuel the goading. They struggle to resist attempts to surge.
One man, present alongside what appears to be his female partner, bustles his way to and from the front of the trouble. ‘F*** this, let’s storm them’ bellows out more than once. A club steward, who calls him by his name, orders him back umpteen times.
Daytripping dunces with no real affiliation to the clubs they purport to support are often derided. They were undoubtedly a factor at Peterborough, but forgiving the familiar because they might have been provoked only breeds the contempt that feeds this growing problem.
The troublemakers seemingly vanish after the match, fears of a clash as home fans invade the pitch in celebration prove unfounded but things still take a sinister turn.
Coalville Town chairman Glyn Rennocks told The NLP that Ravens player Eliot Putman had a lit flare shoved up the back of his shirt. Thank overstretched. fully, he avoided serious injury but got burned. The incident is expected to form part of referee Matthew Norton’s report.
Cambridgeshire Police later confirmed an officer was injured, thankfully not seriously. No arrests were made but an investigation into violent disorder is underway.
Precautions
How much worse does it have to get for that baby in the pram, that man in the wheelchair, that child in the stand, that police officer or player, before something changes? Until their loved ones get the kind of call any of us would dread?
Part of the problem is understanding how this issue will manifest itself on any given day.
Rennocks did not wish to put the boot in but described the organisation as “poor” with a “non-existent” level of stewarding.
“To sell tickets and take cash on the gate with no idea how many would turn up instead of just selling tickets was a mistake,” he said.
“I don’t want to condemn Peterborough, I know what it is like from personal experience. We had some problems when King’s Lynn came to ours a few years back but we tried to take precautions.
“Maybe Peterborough thought it would be okay with people mixing but unfortunately, with beer and everything else, it does not always work that way.”
Sports chairman Grant Biddle said police advice had been sought and followed with six officers – two uniformed and four plain-clothed ‘spotters’ – part of the “50-odd” people, including professional stewards and volunteers, looking to maintain order.
“It is difficult,” he said. “We knew there would be groups from both sides that might get a bit lively. It was worse than I thought. What more could we have done? You could have 100 police, it is tricky to know the need and they said six should do it. We took their advice.”
Resources
Biddle admitted the location of permanent facilities at the ground made segregation problematic but that it would need to be considered alongside categorising certain fixtures for extra police or security with Sports going up to National North.
“It was a new experience for us. We will learn some of the things we need to do better from this,” he added.
Clubs have a need to make the most of days like these but all of them – not just Peterborough Sports – have a duty to themselves, their people and the game itself not to become
How many of the troublemakers had too many? How many were worse for wear when they arrived but let in anyway? Did the club have the resources in place to adequately answer these questions?
One solution could be to issue wristbands to over-18s at big games. Rip it off at the bar and hand it in when you get served, limit it to one alcoholic drink per person until full-time when the bulk of the crowd leaves. Implement that alongside no entry for those already drunk and the troublemakers will disappear. Granted, that punishes the real fans.
Hard questions to answer and even harder issues to resolve but how much more difficult would they have been if a child had been caught in the crossfire?
Non-League has relished benefiting from its post-Covid bounce, how it responds to this problem may determine whether the bubble bursts.