FENCES ‘NOT THE ANSWER’ TO INVASIONS
A RETURN to perimeter fencing is not the answer to tackling pitch invasions and would represent ‘a failure’, the UK’s football policing lead has said.
Recent matches in the Premier League and the EFL have been marred by pitch invasions, and in some cases fans have clashed with players and other club staff.
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe has warned a failure to tackle the issue could end in tragedy, and the Professional Footballers’ Association has issued a fresh statement calling on the football and police authorities to take a tough stance on anyone invading the pitch.
Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s football policing lead, says clubs will need to look at investment in physical measures which can deter pitch invasions alongside strong sanctions for those who behave violently on the pitch. But he said there was no way that bringing back fencing — a regular feature at football grounds until the 1989 Hillsborough disaster — could be the answer.
‘No one wants fences around the ground. That will be, frankly, an absolute failure of us all if we ever went back to a situation where there were fences around the ground,’ he told BBC Radio 5 Live. ‘It’s not safe, we don’t want it and we’d like to think we can manage it without that.’
Howe said urgent action had to be taken by the authorities in order to avoid ‘potential tragedy’. His Crystal Palace counterpart Patrick Vieira was involved in an altercation after Everton fans invaded the pitch and goaded him at Goodison Park on Thursday night following a 3-2 win which guaranteed their Premier League survival.
The Magpies travel to Burnley tomorrow who are also battling against relegation and Howe said: ‘I think we’re going into dangerous territory where something could happen in a game that has terrible consequences, and I don’t think anyone would want to see that.’
Chief Constable Roberts welcomed the 24-week jail sentence and 10-year banning order imposed on a Nottingham Forest fan who came onto the pitch and headbutted Sheffield United’s Billy Sharp earlier this week.
Nottinghamshire Police also arrested a 25-yearold man on suspicion of assault as part of an investigation into a video circulating on social media.
Merseyside Police are investigating an altercation on the pitch at Goodison Park and also made three arrests for possession of pyrotechnics.