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A change to the law now means that football fans who try to enter match grounds without a ticket will face lengthy banning orders and substantial fines with the first offender already charged at a match in London last weekend.
The Met Police reported that it had authorised the country’s first charge for tailgating at a football match, following the Carabao Cup Final between Arsenal and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium.
Those convicted of tailgating face a football banning order of up to five years, alongside a fine of up to £1,000. It will also be illegal to knowingly attempt to gain entry using forged tickets, passes and accreditation documents, or by posing as a member of stadium or playing staff.
The change in the law kicked in at just after midnight on Sunday and is the result of previous examples of serious disorder where thousands of ticketless fans entered stadiums through tailgating – following a fan with a legitimate ticket very closely through turnstiles.
A review by Baroness Louise Casey commissioned after the disorder at the Euro 2020 final recommended strengthening the legal framework to deter football-related disorder, including tailgating and forced entry. The Unauthorised Entry to Football Matches Act is one outcome from that review.
Chief Inspector Pete Dearden was the match commander at Wembley. He said on the day of the match: “So much strategic planning goes into these operations. We expect high standards and every officer delivered that today. Huge changes have been implemented since last year, and we will now use the success of the policing operation today as a blueprint throughout the busy summer at Wembley so fans can safely enjoy upcoming fixtures.”
The Met said that two more people had been arrested after the Wembley match with another person arrested at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium on the same day.
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