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REVEALED: Premier League and EFL’s plan to tackle crowd trouble and what they told clubs

The Premier League and EFL’s plan to tackle crowd trouble and what they told clubs has seemingly been revealed according to reports.

They are finding ways to eradicate pitch invaders, holding an emergency meeting – which include the use of specially trained sprinter stewards wearing football boots say the Daily Mail.

Each top flight club are being told they need to use ‘pitch runners’ (i.e quick-reacting stewards wearing appropriate footwear) to keep an eye out for fans who encroach the playing surface.

They are to also make sure the pitch runners have footwear which provides ‘the best grip for the conditions’. The chosen stewards should also be facing the pitch at all times, ready to race on should a supporter enter the field of play and be ready to jump on them albeit.

After Everton’ confirmed survival with a win against Crystal Palace, Patrick Vieira kicked out when a home supporter taunted him on the pitch.

Plans to deal with mass pitch invasions is also being covered ahead of what promises a weekend with a lot at stake with it the final day of Premier League action, plus playoff and cup finals are to be played out.

Clubs have been told to identify ‘highest threat areas’ to protect footballer and officials and to ensure they have clear roles and plans for clearing the pitch ‘in a safe, controlled manner’.

The Daily Mail goes on to say that ‘pre-determined escorts and exit routes should also be implemented, to ensure offenders are kept away from targets. Fans can also expect to hear consistent messaging warning them of the consequences of running onto the pitch.’

‘The safety of all match participants is of paramount importance and clubs must put all necessary procedures in place to ensure the players, coaching staff and match officials are protected and have safe access and egress to the pitch,’ a letter to clubs seen by Sportsmail stated.

‘The Premier League advises that club pre-match safety briefings with the match officials covers plans for dealing with key issues such as pitch incursions, protests and pyrotechnics.’

It is also understood that further discussions are being had on fan behaviour ahead of the new season.

Authorities are searching for solutions to reduce trouble after pitch invasions also cause concerns with police firms predicting it could get worse from here on.

The Manchester University academic Geoff Pearson, a leading voice on fan culture and crowd safety, says that a “carnival” culture among some supporters has been exacerbated by the absences from stadiums caused by the pandemic before going on to add that behaviours have been unlearned during that time and punishments of the like imposed on the Nottingham Forest headbutter are necessary to turn the tide.

“There is an accountability issue,” he says, “and it takes time to correct that behaviour. But if you look back to the 80s people said hooliganism was intractable and between 1988 and 1994 we got a grip of it quite quickly. We’re now in a much better place than then and police already have the tools they need. But ultimately it is fans who will start to re-establish boundaries and that will be enforced by people being banned.”

Football authorities are clear that the legal framework exists to get the current problems under control. As a statement on pitch invasions from the Professional Footballers’ Association put it: “These are predictable events, it is a criminal offence, and it is unacceptable.”

This week the EFL said it would support the use of measures to enforce “capacity reduction” on clubs whose fans invade the pitch or engage in other prohibited behaviour.

Reductions could mean parts of stadiums being closed off, targeting areas perceived as being home to troublemakers. It could also mean the restricting of fans from sitting in the first 10 rows of any stand and netting them off, so as to stop incursions physically.

Other ideas include a focus on stewarding. An absence of neon tabards around football pitches has raised eyebrows among others, with calls for clubs to spend more money on stewarding. Manchester University academic Geoff Pearson dismisses this as a practical solution, he says: “You can’t stop home fans getting on the pitch with policing.” But he goes on to say that improving intelligence about crowds among police and stewards is crucial. One of the proposals talked about being introduced by authorities is to take stewards from visiting clubs on away fixtures, the better to apply informed crowd control.

The Premier League said that it had told its clubs to remind fans that pitch invasions are illegal prior to the Premier League’s last round of fixtures kicks off on Sunday. “Clubs will have all necessary procedures in place to ensure the players, staff, match officials and fans are protected”, a spokesperson said.

Football’s stakeholders say their main priority is protecting the safety of those playing or coaching the game, and that their willingness to consider all corrective measures is a sign of how seriously they take the current problem, working with the police. England’s most senior footballing officer, chief constable Mark Roberts, said he was “alarmed” by the new spate of incidents.

“Fans entering the pitch … [have] at times resulted in assaults and altercations with players, managers and club staff – which is totally unacceptable,” Roberts said. “The pitch is the players’ place of work and like everyone else, they should be able to feel safe. It is the responsibility of clubs to ensure that fans can view matches in safety and we will continue to work with clubs to see what can be done to help prevent these incidents in future.”

Stadium closures

Telegraph Sport say talks are planned over imposing stadium closures for the kind of violent pitch invasions witnessed, as one senior figure in English football said: “The mantra is always, ‘You can’t punish the fans’. Well, hang on, yes you can when it’s the fans that caused it.”

The EFL also issued a statement on Wednesday warning it would consider “the potential use of capacity reductions or other similar mitigations”. English football authorities are allowed to impose such sanctions but they rarely use them. That is in stark contrast to FIFA and UEFA, with the latter having forced England to play next month’s Nations League game against Italy behind closed doors over the hooliganism at last summer’s European Championship final.

Points deductions

This is another sanction clubs face, which appears to be reserved for matters that could impact “the integrity of the competition”, such as clubs going into administration. Pitch invasions which cause games to be abandoned can fall into this category. In 2015, Blackpool were given a suspended three-point deduction over a fan protest that forced their Championship match against Huddersfield Town to be called off. We rarely see points deductions handed out for pitch invasions, but in light of recent events, it may just be back on the table.

A points deduction would definitely be the biggest disincentive to fans invading the pitch, especially en masse, particularly given such invasions tend to happen when a team has secured promotion or avoided relegation. But this last few weeks or so violence against players, fans and players have took place. Something we didn’t see much of for the last few years.

Barriers

Fencing was erected at English football grounds to contain the kind of hooliganism that blighted the game in the 1970s and 80s, though this was got rid of due to the Hillsborough Disaster.

Hillsborough was caused by the police’s fatal decision to allow thousands of Liverpool fans to crowd into a terrace behind one of the goals, crushing them against the fences.

The odds of such overcrowding occurring at modern all-seater grounds with strict capacity restrictions are slim but could still happen. An alternative to metal fencing could be netting that would also stop coins, bottles and flares entering the field of play. Again we’ve seen a lot of stuff thrown, and netting may be the way forward, like we see in many stadiums across Europe.

Police and stewards

Some have criticised how much police is on patrol in and outside of stadiums, Oldham being an example of late. Others however would argue that it is time for football to spend more money on extra policing and stewarding, particularly for high-risk fixtures. An unbroken human ring of steel around the perimeter of each stand is something we’re seeing more of in football today.

Player strike

Considering pitch invasions are resulting in players being assaulted by fans, a case could be made that they are being subjected to an unsafe working environment and they would instead go on strike. Players are arguably football’s most influential figures and should be utilised in any event to convey the message that the scenes that have been witnessed recently will not be tolerated state the Telegraph.

See more of the following stories which including crowd trouble / interaction;

Benteke’s face grabbed by Everton fan | Zaha confronts taunting pitch invader

Viewers laugh as Everton fan smacks Joachim Andersen’s bum while kid swears at player

Patrick Vieira faces FA and police probe over kicking fan | Prem managers give verdict

New footage shows Port Vale fans PUNCHING Swindon players during pitch invasion

Port Vale manager sent off after touchline scuffle | objects thrown at McKirdy

Nottingham Forest thug named, shamed, and jailed for Billy Sharp headbutt

Sheffield United’s Oli McBurnie captured in video stamping on Nottingham Forest fan

Update given on Billy Sharp as police arrest attacker | Jack Robinson confronted by fan

Horrifying video shows Nottingham Forest fan run and headbutt Billy Sharp

Nathan Jones labels Huddersfield fans a ‘disgrace’ for what happened after final whistle

Three arrests made in away end for discriminatory gestures during Tottenham v Burnley

Fans reacted to Premier League and EFL’s plan to tackle crowd trouble and what they told clubs…

@JJHD1610: Barriers like at Wembley

@LeeNoble20: Find a load of ex rugby wingers looking for something to do on a Saturday now they’ve retired. Be class that 😂

@BaldDavid1967: Can someone explain how a pitch runner is stopping 20-30 thousand running on a pitch?

@Stuj4z: Imagine having the power to just dock clubs points for mass pitch invasions and then recommending this instead. Joke

@stevewoody99: Points deducted is the only way starting with Everton 😂

@BFC84Ash: still doesn’t solve the 100/1 fan/steward ratio 🤣

@Matty_8419: Easy to sort, 3 point deducted if anyone goes on the pitch, will be self managed by the crowd

@Lt_wafc: Ahaha imagine stewards in training session with the players doing shuttle runs and all that

@MaxConcrete: Haha imagine Usain Bolt running you down at the Stadium of Light 😭

@ashtoon92: So you get to tackle people and get away with it? Where do I apply 😂😂

@hughsie_10:
🤣🤦‍♂️ Honestly, how do these people get these high ranking, overpaid roles?
“Hmm…we’ll resolve the issue by…..getting fast people that run faster than the people getting on the pitch! There, my work here is done.”
And when 50k people do it?
“Er….LOTS or fast people!”

@DanKnowles1984: So they going to have 10,000 pitch runners?! 🙈😅

@QPRReport: Perhaps armed guards with bayonets…Attack dogs…and barbed wire around the Field (with a moat of course!)😱 – And severe penalties on the club – not just the individual fans. Meaning points deductions – The one thing that other fans will really care about

@Bluwhitehoops: Temporary fences for the last game of the season, important fixtures are the only answer. These fans haven’t watched matches through fences like us. That’ll change them. Then maybe fabs afterwards will obey instructions to not go in the pitch. Did we go on pitch after Oldham?

@StevieR60: Make the clubs aware that they will be heavily fined for each pitch invasion. Make the fines meaningful. Say £5m for Premier League clubs.

@Le77y64: The PL blatantly haven’t seen the stewards at any given game. They couldn’t give a fuck.

@Charlanardo:
Specially trained sprinter stewards hahahahahahahaha
You’re gonna try pay someone minimum wage to have to live like an athlete and train to be one too? Righto!

@J_CPFC565: So alright for these guys to floor some young kid going for a players shirt. But complete wrong when Vieira has the slightest retaliation from someone physically abusing him??🤨 #cpfc #vieira

@sam1hufton: It’s simple…. Deduct points from the club! Suddenly the fans will stop doing it

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