Police say clubs should cover all match-day costs
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Football clubs should pay the full cost of policing a wider area around stadiums on match days, according to the sport's most senior police officer in England and Wales.
Only the bill for policing inside grounds and the immediate vicinity is currently met by clubs. Assistant chief constable Andy Holt, the lead on policing football for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), has said football clubs should pay for all costs related to a game taking place.
He told the BBC: "It's my personal view that we should have full cost recovery." But the Football League has said fans pay taxes to cover police costs, and should not "pay twice".
Research commissioned by Acpo found that in four out of five clubs studied there were "significantly elevated counts of crime" on match days within one kilometre of each ground.
The Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science at University College London compared crime statistics for five stadiums from 2005-10. The research was published in February last year.
Mr Holt said: "Our experience in policing shows that football matches tend to lead to an increase in crime and disorder in the areas surrounding football grounds. This research supports this and suggests the area affected by increased criminality extends further than the area in which clubs contribute to the policing costs.
"There are no plans to change the guidance which covers how police forces recover the costs associated with football policing from clubs. However, this study provides a further understanding of the effect that football matches can have on crime and will help inform the service should any future discussions take place on recovering costs associated with policing football."
The Football League said that supporters were entitled to police services provided by the state, and said the sport contributes more than £1bn each year in taxes.
The Football League said in a statement: "Costs incurred away from the ground that are deemed necessary are covered by the state - it's what people pay their taxes for, with English professional football contributing more that £1bn a year to the Treasury, let alone the tax paid by the millions of fans who attend Premier League and Football League games during the season, and who are of course entitled to police services as they go about their lawful business."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments