An independent review into the way football matches are policed in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent has been published.
Staffordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Ellis commissioned the review by a leading, national academic on crowd safety to look at the effectiveness of the arrangements for policing local football matches.
The review, available here , focused on Stoke City and Port Vale and included visits to policed games at both clubs’ grounds.*
Eighteen months before the review was announced, the Commissioner introduced new formal audit and appeal arrangements between local clubs and Staffordshire Police as part of improving rigour and transparency in deciding the level and costs of policing matches.
He said: “Football policing has never been an exact science and the police have to make difficult judgements when assessing football intelligence from other forces and the numbers of officers required to ensure safety for everyone.
“At the same time, some non-Premiership football clubs work within tight budgets and face financial pressures on a weekly basis which means they need to keep policing costs for fixtures as reasonable and fair as possible.
“This independent review will provide a basis to improve consistency and provide Staffordshire Police and football clubs with the learning and development opportunities to improve policing football across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.”
The review was led by Professor Clifford Stott, from Keele University, whose research on football policing and public disorder has informed policy for the Home Office, the College of Policing, the European Union and UEFA among others.
Its aims were to:
- Assess the overall effectiveness and impact of the arrangements for the policing of football matches in Staffordshire;
- Identify, by reference to best practice, an optimum future model for football policing in Staffordshire identifying areas in which current service arrangements might need to be further developed and/or improved to deliver improved impact and value for money;
- Strengthen relationships between Staffordshire Police, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and local football clubs to provide greater assurance and resilience in public safety and the management of potential disorder;
- Produce a detailed report on findings, setting out recommendations to inform future operational and strategic decisions in respect of the future delivery of football policing in the county.
The review recommended ways that Staffordshire Police can take a more community-policing approach to football matches and improve the way it uses intelligence.
* Burton Albion was not included in the review, which took place before the club’s promotion to the Championship, as there were no ‘policed’ football matches at the club during the review period. However, the review’s recommendations have been shared and discussed with Burton Albion officials.
