Premier League clubs fear Home Office move will add millions to policing costs | Football politics

Premier League clubs and major sporting bodies fear they will be forced to pay millions more to cover policing costs after calling for a series of consultations with the Home Office to begin this week.

As things stand, football clubs only have to pay for the policing of their grounds. However senior officials believe that the clubs, not the taxpayers, should be paying the £71 million per season to maintain law and order in the stadiums as well as the surrounding areas on match days. If the plans go ahead then events such as Notting Hill Carnival and Pride as well as Football League games, international rugby and cricket matches and the London Marathon could all be affected.

In some cases the costs can be very high, with a recent Europa League match between Aston Villa and Maccabi Tel Aviv reported to have cost £2 million on policing. Another source said that if Millwall were to face Leeds, the home club would have to foot a bill of more than £100,000 for policing, if off-field costs were also included.

News that the government was considering such plans emerged in March when The Times reported that Mark Roberts, the chief constable of Cheshire Police and head of the UK Football Policing Unit (UKFPU), revealed he was lobbying ministers on the issue. According to figures provided by the UKFPU, the total bill for policing services for football in England and Wales for the 2023–24 season was £71.69m, of which clubs paid £14.87m – 20.7%.

Roberts argued that removing the burden of the remaining £56.82m from taxpayers would mean 1,200 extra officers could be deployed on Britain’s streets. He also suggested it was unfair that top football clubs can spend almost £400m in a single transfer window, but pay only a fraction of this to police matches and expressed his disappointment that the government is moving at “snow speed” on the issue.

In response, the Football Association, the Rugby Football Union, the England and Wales Cricket Board, the Jockey Club, Silverstone and the Boat Race sent a joint letter to Keir Starmer through the Major Event Organizers Association in April, warning that “the ill-considered changes would damage a vital sector of the economy”. “We are seriously concerned by the approach Mr Roberts has taken,” the group said. “The changes to the law he is advocating will affect all our members. This is not just a Premier League football issue.” However it now appears that the Home Office is committed to examining the issue more closely.

The Home Office has been contacted for comment. In October, Minister of State Sarah Jones told Parliament that she was looking at the issue closely. He said, “The Home Office is concerned that the cost of policing football matches, which is currently falling on the public, is too high and is looking at ways to tackle this.” “This is an important issue that needs to be carefully considered to ensure a balance between the cost of public expenditure and the wider cultural and economic value of these events.”