This book provides a holistic and interdisciplinary focus on the legal regulation and policing of football violence and disorder in Britain. Anchored in ground-breaking ethnographic and participant-action research, the book combines a crowd psychology and socio-legal approach to critically explore the contemporary challenges of managing football crowds. It sets out the processes by which football disorder occurs and the limitations of existing approaches to policing ‘football hooliganism’, in particular the dominant focus on controlling ‘risk supporters’, before setting out proposals for fundamental reforms to both law and policing. This book will be of value to academics, students, legal and policing practitioners, as well as policy-makers. The two authors are internationally known experts in the management and behaviour of football crowds and bring together for the first time over 30 years of research in this area from the disciplines of law and social psychology.
Author(s): Geoff Pearson, Clifford Stott
Series: Palgrave Studies in Risk, Crime and Society
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 376
City: Cham
Acknowledgements
Contents
About the Authors
List of Figures
1: Introduction
‘Euro Sunday’
Knee-Jerk Reactions and Panic Law
Remit, Aims, and Original Contribution of This Book
Methodology
Football Crowd Regulation in England and Wales in 2022
References
2: The Historical Development of Policing and the Law at Football Matches in the UK
Introduction
The Historical Development of Football Crowd Disorder and the Emergence of ‘Football Hooliganism’
‘Hooliganism’ and State Response: The 1970s and 1980s
Changing Trends: 1990–2000
Football Violence, Disorder, and Anti-social Behaviour in the Twenty-First Century
The Development of Academic Understandings of Football Crowd Disorder
Conclusion
References
3: Legal Measures to Prevent Violence and Disorder at Football
Introduction
Stadium Safety Interventions
The Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol, etc.) Act 1985
Sporting Events Act (Fireworks)
The Football (Offences) Act 1991 and the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994
Other Relevant Legislative Provisions
Football Banning Orders
Judicial Responses
Conclusions
References
4: Policing a Football Match in the Early Twenty-First Century
The Local Structures of Policing
The Emergence of a Standardised Approach to Policing Public Order
From Policing Public Order to ‘Football Hooliganism’
Cost Recovery and ‘Special Police Services’
Specialist Operations
Command and Control
Resourcing
‘Football Intelligence’ Units
Intelligence-Led Policing?
Conclusions
References
5: Risk Supporters? Understanding the Behavioural Norms of Football Fans
Introduction
Football Fan ‘Culture’
Fan Subcultures and ‘Carnival Fans’
Contemporary Developments in Match-Going Fan Behaviour
Lost in Translation? The ‘Risk Supporter’
Contextualising Football Intelligence: The Risk Society and the Culture of Control
Redefining Dispositional Risk
The Role of Organised Fan Groups
Conclusions
References
6: Understanding the Psychology of Football Crowds
Introduction
Classical Theory of Crowds
New Perspectives on Crowd Psychology
Policing Football Crowds: Violence as a Self-fulfilling Prophesy
The 1998 World Cup Finals
From Theory to Practice: Understanding and Managing Risk at Football Events
Participant Action Research and Influencing Police Policy
A Model of Good Practice
Policing Euro 2004
Conclusions
References
7: Human Rights and Football Policing
The European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act
Proportionality and Articles 2, 3, 5, and 8 ECHR
Free Expression and Assembly and Positive Obligations
The Extension of Articles 10 and 11 Rights to Football Fans
Obligations on Police to Protect or ‘Facilitate’ Assembly
Human Rights Compliance in Police Decision-Making Processes
Conclusions
References
8: Understanding Risk in Football
Introduction
The Importance of History in Assessing and Managing Risk
Case Study 1: A ‘Regional Derby’ in the North
Case Study 2: A Historical Rivalry
Case Study 3: A North Versus South Premier League Fixture
Case Study 4: A New ‘Derby’
Case Study 5: A New Rivalry?
Case Study 6: A ‘Regional Derby’ in a Rural County
Conclusions
References
9: Dialogue-Based Approaches to Football Policing
Introduction
Criminal Intelligence Versus Dialogue
Human Rights, Science, and the Policing of Crowds
Dialogue Policing in Scandinavia
Dialogue Versus ‘Spotting’ in England and Wales
Effective DFO and Spotter Liaison
Policing High-Risk Fan Groups: An Evidence-Based Approach
PLTs in Football: A Model of Good Practice?
Conclusions
References
10: The New Agenda: Proposals for Reform in Law and Policing
Introduction
Part 1: Legal Reforms
Stadium Safety
Invading the Pitch
Football Banning Orders
Reform to Alcohol Legislation
Part 2: Reforms to Football Policing
Integrated Guidance and Human Rights
PSU and the Problem of Verbal Engagement
Engagement and the Operational Football Officer
Specialist Engagement and the Role of the Clubs and Supporters
Intelligence and Resourcing
References
11: Conclusions
‘The Perfect Storm’: Revisiting Euro Sunday
Understanding Fan Behaviour and ‘Cultures’
Intelligence, Infrastructure, and Risk
Policing and Dialogue
The Law and Criminal Justice System
Procedural Justice
The Direction of Travel
Research Co-production and Knowledge-Exchange
References
Appendix
Table of Cases
Table of Legislation
Glossary and Acronyms
Index
