Fights between rival fans, pitch invaders, object throwing and drug use are all causing concern post-pandemic
If there’s one thing everyone in English football can currently agree on, it’s that there are unnerving levels of disorder at matches this season. Rules are being ignored, safety measures overwhelmed, arrests made on a regular basis. As one senior figure in the safety industry puts it: “There’s a song by the Clash called Bankrobber that has the line: ‘Imagine if all the boys in jail could get out now together.’ That’s what it feels like. They forget Hillsborough, they forget Heysel, they forget the Bradford fire and think: ‘Right, we can now behave like we want, because we’re free.’”
Fights between Tottenham and West Ham fans on two occasions. Projectiles thrown from the stands at Goodison Park and Stamford Bridge and pyrotechnics from the seats of Bloomfield Road. Pitch invaders at Norwich, Leicester and Arsenal (more than once). Trouble on the streets of Nottingham after the derby with Leicester and 18 arrests before, during and after last weekend’s fixture between Middlesbrough and Derby. Just a sample of the incidents this season and all after the “unprecedented” disorder that descended on Wembley last summer on the night of England’s first championship final since 1966.
