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Wrexham fan Arfon Jones calls for police to change how they treat football fans.

North Wales PCC Arfon Jones says football fans are unfairly victimised as a result of laws deriving from the Taylor Report.

Date - 1st June 2019
By - Harry Wise

3 Comments

 

A police and crime commissioner says laws regulating the treatment of football fans should be look at again because they are based on lies.

The Taylor report, which first investigated the Hillsborough disaster - where 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives - led to legislative changes.

But North Wales PCC Arfon Jones says the report was based on fabrications and as a result football fans are overpoliced and unnecessarily victimised.

Mr Jones told Police Oracle: “It has been shown that evidence given at the original Hillsborough enquiry about fans being drunk was simply not true so Lord Taylor’s recommendations were based on falsehoods.”

He specifically mentioned the legislation surrounding the consumption of alcohol on the way to games and within sight of the football pitch as a reform that was based on misleading premises.

He added: “The latest findings about the Hillsborough tragedy are that it wasn’t the fans’ fault and that those fans hadn’t been drinking, we should revisit the legislation around policing football matches and stop victimising football fans.

“They should have the same rights as other sports fans because while I don’t want to stigmatise other sports, it’s fair to say there is drunkenness and boorish behaviour at other sports venues.”

Mr Jones opposes the attempts by police to try and compel football clubs to shoulder more of the financial burden on matchday security. He has called for improved stewarding and cutting the number of officers working at football matches.  

The Wrexham season-ticket holder says the proposed changes could see smaller clubs have their existence threatened by added security costs including clubs like Wrexham and local rivals Chester.

Last year, Mr Jones wrote to the Football Supporters' Federation asking it to raise the matter of legislation that emanated from the Taylor Report at a meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Football Supporters.

View OnPolice Oracle

 

[Zulu 22 + 4,576]

Does this PCC know what he is talking about. There are certain clubs who are known for bad fans behaviour. Wrexham do not exactly draw huge crowds.  There are many fans who are sober and well behaved but you only need a handful of alcohol fuelled idiots to cause mayhem.

[David + 4,981]

I wonder if this somewhat deluded person (who has no responsibility for operational policing remember) will take any kind of responsibility when it all goes wrong in front of him? I think we all know the answer to that one.

[sierragolf95 + 55]

I first started my security career working at football matches. Several years on having dealt with football fans all over Scotland I can safely say that relaxing the legislation around alcohol and football up here would simply be a disaster. I'm not sure of the rules down south but quite frankly alcohol and football are a bad mix and I would absolutely 100% be against relaxing current legislation and policing practices. 

Although, if they'd like to do a single season trial with the rules relaxed you can bet that violence will go up both during and immediately after the game, injuries will go up both during and after, antisocial behaviour within the stadium itself and in the streets at the end of the game will rise. 

But hey, screw the people that make a living at football and have to live around the stadiums, let's give these irresponsible morons even more freedom to cause chaos!

[Traffic Rat + 287]

Needs to sort his own fans out first. Wrexham are known for violence, especially when they play Chester.

[Richhamdo + 873]

I have been to a football match only once in my life, about twenty five years ago give or take a few years. I was asked to find some specials by someone or other and go to the next town one saturday to “make a presence”. To say i was flabbergasted would be an understatement. As far as i could see it was just two towns having a game of football. However i rang around [as you do]and got three other specials and we went,  to receive further briefing/instructions when i got there.

No bother at all that i could see standing at the end of the pitch but then toward the end was sent to the railway station nearby for when the match finished.

Cut a long story short,  the station was pretty much  deserted and given the chance i would have gone home and given it up as a bad job, so to speak.

Then four or five middle aged fans came up to myself and my partner, we were  standing on the platform probably wondering what we were doing there . I could see straight away that they were not happy campers and they told us in no uncertain terms how insulted they felt that the police had been sent to watch over them, and that they had never had any trouble,  they were quite angry actually and i had to explain and make excuses for our presence and that it was nothing personal etc etc.

Thats all i know about policing football matches in my time as a special constable, of course it is a while ago.  😀. Rich.

[SD + 688]

Meh! Let them do it, then they can sort their own mess out when it soars pear shaped.

[David + 4,981]

15 minutes ago, SD said:

Meh! Let them do it, then they can sort their own mess out when it soars pear shaped.

But the point is, they won't will they?

[Radman + 2,163]

Perhaps he wants to come out with me on a football Saturday and escort some of the bigger clubs around the country to see just how bad it gets at times. 

Honestly I think football fans have it very good, if anyone else turned up to the station in the condition many of them do they would be refused travel entirely and told to jog on but unfortunately we have to accommodate them and to an extent the poor behaviour that comes with their drunkeness. 

[SD + 688]

17 hours ago, David said:

But the point is, they won't will they?

As a PCC they’ll have to as it’s their job.

[skydiver + 1,099]

By and large most football fans are peaceful and just want to support their team, but he trouble is that there is a small % who are often hell bent on causing trouble so we have to be prepared to police that group rather than the majority of supporters. Matches are already divided into different categories with a police presence to match, with those categories matching the risk of trouble so its not as if we have a one size fits all mentality or one which hasn't moved on since the 80's.  I'm really not sure what the PCC expects the police to do giving the small but ever present risk posed by some supporters.  I'd love it f we could police football in the same way as rugby, cricket, F1 or horse racing but I've never heard of large scale prearranged fights at those events instigated by supporters who don't like the opposing team.  

[IrateShrike + 1,847]

I've policed EPL, Championship, FA cup and European football matches and at all of them I've seen countless drunk fans.  Unless I'm missing something profound, I'm not sure what this man is talking about or why he somehow feels he is an authoritative source on the matter.

[David + 4,981]

On 03/06/2019 at 00:26, IrateShrike said:

Unless I'm missing something profound, I'm not sure what this man is talking about or why he somehow feels he is an authoritative source on the matter.

It could be that he feels that for too long he hasn't seen his photo and name in the papers.

 

On 02/06/2019 at 14:54, SD said:

As a PCC they’ll have to as it’s their job.

But again, they won't will they?