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The Football Association has stepped up its lobbying of the government to make forced entry into football stadiums, so-called “tailgating”, a criminal offence before the United Kingdom and Ireland host the 2028 men’s European Championship.
The policing minister Dame Diana Johnson was a guest of the FA at Wembley for last month’s Carabao Cup final, where 68 of the 91 arrests made were for attempting to enter the ground without a ticket.
Tailgating at turnstiles is not a criminal offence, however, with the Metropolitan police forced to make those 68 arrests on the grounds of suspicion of fraud. The Guardian has learned that no charges have been issued owing to very low conviction rates for tailgating, which has become a major issue for the FA and some Premier League clubs.
The FA is concerned about the lack of a deterrent for tailgaters and has petitioned the Home Office to pass a law to make it an offence that would lead to a criminal record and a football banning order, which prohibits offenders from attending matches in the UK. A private member’s bill was introduced to parliament by the Labour’s Linsey Farnsworth, the MP for Amber Valley, Derbyshire, last December, and the FA is determined to keep pressure on the government to make it law.
“Enforcing entry points at Wembley is a huge drain on our resources,” an FA source said. “The police often don’t make arrests, as tailgating isn’t a criminal offence so won’t lead to convictions, and it’s often just left to the stewards. Even when the offenders are caught they just run off to the next turnstile and try again.
“We need a proper deterrent in place, particularly with the Euros coming up. The Euro final [in 2021] was very challenging and we can’t have a repeat of that.”
Johnson met at Wembley with police and senior stadium staff who were on duty during the Euros final in July 2021. She also visited the stadium control room, police and stewards on the frontline and witnessed individuals trying to force entry at the turnstiles.
An independent review led by Louise Casey of the crowd disorder that marred the Euros final four years ago found that about 2,000 ticketless individuals had gained entry to Wembley, 400 of whom were ejected. Casey also found that a ticketless group of about 6,000 were preparing to storm the stadium had England won. She referred to collective security failures which “jeopardised the lives of legitimate supporters and staff”.
The review made several key recommendations to prevent a repeat at Wembley, many of which have been introduced by the FA. Alcohol has been banned from Olympic Way, kick-off times have been altered, stewarding has been increased and matches have been recategorised to ensure a larger police presence. A recommendation for stronger penalties for tailgating has yet to be enacted however, despite Lady Casey pointing out that it is a major problem.
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“With the turnstiles now, if you don’t operate them properly you risk a crush,” she wrote. “When you have risk of a crush you have risk to life.”
Wembley is due to stage both semi-finals and the final of Euro 2028.
