Pouncing policemen add new dimension to football

Press, 2 December 1987, Page 48

Pouncing policemen add new dimension to football

By

PETER CORRIGAN

In British soccer, a policeman’s lot was once a happy one. The handful of constables fortunate enough to be selected for match duty would proceed around the pitch in a clockwise direction, surveying the packed terraces. with a relaxed and tolerant eye. Just before kick-off they would carefully fold their raincoats, place them at a comfortable spot and sit to enjoy their free and envied view, interrupted only by the occasional fainting case or to supervise the arrival of a small boy being gently passed to safety over the heads of the crowd.

But parts of the crowd slowly began to develop a different demeanour and the thin blue line thickened. Instead of sitting peacefully against the fence they patrolled the perimeter with their faces towards the ground, not the game.

The first drops of spit started to glisten on their tunics, coins began to ping off their helmets; soon they were in the crowd, a human barrier between warring fans. Match day, once a pleasant perk, had become a compulsory dread.

Fixtures lists are scanned, not for what star player to look forward to but what species of hooligan.

Nor is this a mere football stadium- problem. Trains are met in force, visiting fans escorted to the ground and back again, ambushes anticipated and ringleaders earmarked.

Now there are video cameras on crowd surveillance and snatch squads ready to act against the troublemakers „ they identify. Soon they will be armed with breathalysers to keep the boozers at bay.

From being just part of the furniture at football matches the police have effectively become one of its ruling forces — particularly so when you consider their influence on the issuing of safety certificates, setting ground capacities and, in many cases, decreeing kick-off times and even venues.

Although I doubt if the football authorities would admit it even to. themselves, big-time football in this country would not be possible without the police and the control they impose on the game’s disruptive elements.

Every successful step taken against hooliganism has been taken by the police — and it is only their stand against membership schemes that has avoided this piece of Government nonsense causing complete havoc.

But our gratitude must be tempered by the cost of this dominant role — and I don’t mean the cost to the ratepayers or the clubs, considerable though both sums are.

The apprehending of four Glasgow players for conduct likely to lead to a breach of the peace was the latest in a series of less publicised instances of police action at games — from warning managers for swearing from the touchline to prosecuting players who inflame the crowds.

Gordon Taylor, secre-

tary of the Professional Footballers’ Association spoke last week of his concern about the “increasing number of instances where police have been looking to get involved in the running of the game.”

While agreeing that the thought of our football pitches being ringed by thousands of PC Plods desperate to feel a collar or two is not pleasant, Mr Taylor and his members would gain much from the realisation that football needs the police more than the police need football and that more responsible behaviour on the field might be the best way to reduce the interventions.

The police forces of this country have earned the right to take a close interest in each and every aspect of football and if clubs and players take the opportunity to establish exactly the extent of their concern about the law of the land being applied during games, football’s image could benefit greatly.

Football has welcomed many new roles over the past. 30 years or so — deep-lying centre-for-wards, twin-strikers, overlapping full-backs, double centre-halves ... they have all helped to change the shape of the game.

Now we have the pouncing policemen, and the game may never be the same again.