Rage Online Blog

Saviour of the Fallen, Protector of the Weak, Friend of the Tall Ones, Keeper of the Peace

An article in today's Oxford Mail gives a reasonably interesting insight into the policing of Oxford United games. There's precious little by way of revelation, so as a piece of investigative journalism or even the sensationalist tabloid writing that the Mail seems to encourage these days, it's somewhat lacking.

The interesting factual snippet was that "Eleven Oxford United fans are banned from games for causing trouble, and 13 others are on bail for other football-related offences." Whether or not that constitutes a low or high number for a club of United's stature is sadly not revealed, nor is the nature of the alleged offences for which these people have been banned or bailed. In fact, the article seems to go out of its way to avoid any such analysis, which is a shame as it makes an interesting premise into nothing more than a policeman's bland diary.

This lack of depth is illustrated perfectly in the following paragraph: "Problems include racist chanting, throwing objects on the pitch, swearing and abusing stewards, and in extreme occasions, fights and pitch invasions." The implication is that these are problems faced by police officers at United fixtures, although as a season-ticket holder of many years and a reasonably regular attender of away games I've not heard any racist chanting for probably 15 years or more (although I have heard a lot of chanting that is offensive, and a lot of individual racist remarks). It's true that at Oxford there has long been a problem with throwing objects on the pitch, usually coins and almost always (but not exclusively) at away games. However, this statement by the reporter (Emily Allen isn't even quoting one of her interviewees at this juncture) is completely devoid of analysis: how prevalent are these problems, how many people have been arrested, charged, bailed, or banned for these offences, and is the trend towards these issues increasing or decreasing?

The two quotes at the end of the piece from supporters interviewed at the Wycombe Wanderers game, including one from a self-confessed trouble maker, are a small step in the direction of redressing the balance in favour of some objectivity, but in fact they don't really add anything to the main thrust of the article; if anything, they increase its shallowness. (Is it possible to increase shallowness? Maybe decreasing depth is the correct metaphor.) All in all, I'm really not sure why I bothered blogging about this, except maybe in the hope that someone will take up the gauntlet and write something that's actually worth reading about the subject. Breath will not be held.

Labels: Police

Too much Babylon?

There's a report on the BBC today that quotes the Football Supporters Federation (FSF to you and me) claiming that there is still too much policing at football matches. The spokesperson says that fans are "being subject to heavy-handed policing week in, week out". The claim has, unsurprisingly, been denied by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO to no one but themselves). The Bill reckon that a lot fewer games have a police presence than was the case 20 years ago, and those games that are policed are done so by significantly fewer officers.

So, who's right? Going by my own experience of following Oxford United home and away, I would say that there is evidence to support both sides of the argument. It's certainly true that at Oxford there is hardly any evidence of a police presence except for some of the higher-profile fixtures, such as Luton Town at home last season, and that it is mostly the stewards who are tasked, not always successfully, with keeping order inside the ground. However, especially at some away games, there has also been far too heavy policing on occasion, occasionally leading to problems where none would otherwise have existed. There have also been occasions where a large police presence has proven necessary, such as the away game at Luton last season where the activities of the home fans left little doubt that they still believed it is the mid-1970s.

So, too much policing? Yes, but not all the time. Often there is no policing at all, and sometimes there is a justified level of policing. Sometimes, though, there is a police presence where none is needed, and that has to be looked at and improved. Football is nowadays, like it or not, an activity that is now attended by large numbers of families, as well as individual women, oldsters, youngsters, and people with disabilities. They need to be protected from the Luton-style louts, but they also need to be treated with respect and not be subjected to body searches, rough treatment, or intimidation by thoughtless dog handlers or police horses, etc. All it really needs is a bit of common sense, but sadly that's often lacking from all sides of the divide.

Labels: ACPO, FSF, Luton Town, Police