Stop treating football fans like it’s still 1984…

The focus last Saturday afternoon was, justifiably, on events at the London Stadium. Hammergeddon was as absorbing as it was shocking and led to a fall-out which, nearly a week on, continues to cause tremors. Yet earlier in the day and some 200 miles north, another incident was taking place at an English ground which shone a light on the frustrations that can grip football supporters.

It occurred at Old Trafford where, having seen their team lose 2-1 to Manchester United, Liverpool’s travelling supporters found themselves kept inside the stadium after the final whistle. There was little or no indication from the stewards and police officers that swarmed the away end about the length of the delay and if that wasn’t bad enough, many fans were also stopped from going to the toilet. Not surprisingly, this led to a rise in tensions.

Angry words were directed towards the officials in hi-vis jackets and – to quote the Arctic Monkeys – the men with truncheons dressed in hats. Yet they remained largely silent, speaking only to reiterate that no one could leave and that the majority of those wanting to go for a slash and/or shit could not as only five people at a time were allowed to go to the toilet and there were five already down there.

The agitation increased, at which point a smattering of spectators tried to make a run for it. Suddenly the stewards and coppers came to life, charging out of position to stop the would-be escapees in their tracks. The agitation increased further and it genuinely looked like it could get ugly…at which point all supporters were allowed to leave. Only around half an hour had passed since the full-time whistle but it felt longer. I know this because I was there. In the away end. Waiting.

Stadium lock-ins are not new, and especially in fixtures between Manchester United and Liverpool. The rivalry is fierce and, as such, it has become long-standing practise for the away exits to be bolted shut and blocked off prior to the final whistle being blown. Liverpool fans are kept back at Old Trafford, United fans are kept back at Anfield, and among those effected there is even a sense of the experience being a badge of honour. Proof that they are part of a unique, red-hot clash.

Yet to be held back is to also be reminded of how supporters, and match-goers specifically, are treated by authority figures in this country. Namely that we are not to be trusted. Not trusted to go outside immediately in case we start fighting with the other lot and not even trusted to go to the bogs in case we storm the gates, get outside and start fighting with the other lot.

It’s important to say that the stewards and police officers who convened on the Old Trafford away end were not overly rude or aggressive. Indeed, during the closing stages of the game I got chatting to one of the coppers. He was nice. Polite. Agreed with me that Craig Pawson was having a mare. But come the final whistle the sense of them and us became tangible. All we wanted was to know how long we were going to be kept back and, for heaven’s sake, to be allowed to go the toilet. Instead angst was created where there needn’t have been any.

Oh and guess what? When we were allowed out there were still loads of United fans around Old Trafford. I walked through a fair few on the way back to the car and managed to not get into a single fight. Nor did I see anyone else scrapping. There may have been one or two elsewhere but not enough to justify an overly aggressive lock-in that ultimately proved pointless.

Context is important and this type of treatment is wrapped up in the hooliganism that infected British football during the 1970s and 80s. It was a viscous, febrile era that sparked a suspicion of match-goers which continues to this day. Tasteless chants and the odd incident of physical trouble remain, but overall the modern match-going experience is unrecognisable to what went before, due mainly to all-seater stadiums, a shift in crowd demographics and a recognition among supporters themselves that enough was enough. There is far less trouble than there once was and, as such, the time has surely come for a re-think regarding how match-goers are treated.

No more obvious is this the case than in regards to the rules governing alcohol consumption. As part of legislation brought in by Margaret Thatcher as a crude and knee-jerk attempt to deal with the dark days of the 1980s, it remains illegal to take alcohol inside a ground, be drunk inside a ground, drink in view of the pitch or drink on a supporters’ coach to and from the ground. The first two are fair enough but the latter two, in the context of football’s gentrification, are frankly ridiculous.

Not being able to drink in view of the pitch is not just highly restrictive but also counter-productive. I cannot be the only person who has seen lads (and, let’s be honest, it tends to be lads) furiously getting through pre-match pints on the concourse because they know they can’t take them up into the stands. Some double up and the result can be that they’re bladdered by the time the game kicks off. Better, surely, to let them drink while the game is on?

The argument is that this will only lead to more alcohol being consumed, but I genuinely don’t believe that would be the case. Rather, the same amount would be consumed over a longer period of time, which you don’t have to be a doctor to recognise is better for people’s mental as well as physical well-being.

The restrictions relating to drinking alcohol on supporters’ coaches is even more ludicrous – overly draconian and largely unenforceable – and is perhaps why, according to Amanda Jacks, caseworker for the Football Supporters’ Federation, police use that part of the legislation with significant discretion.

“The FSF has never formerly raised alcohol-related legislation with the police but we have discussed it with them and there’s no doubt forces up and down the country are more relaxed in regards to how they enforce it,” says Jacks. “Alcohol-related arrests at football matches have plummeted and in regards to it being illegal for supporters to consume alcohol on coaches to and from stadiums, the police are now largely turning a blind eye.”

A hugely pro-active and hard-working campaigner for supporters’ rights, Jacks is broadly accepting of how police go about maintaining order at games on these shores. She is also sympathetic to stadium lock-ins, making the point that they come down to the discretion of the match commander on the day (hence why there may be a lock-in for a particular fixture one season but not the next) and that, as stated, it’s an issue which most match-goers do not challenge.

However, Jacks also accepts that there is something “absurd” about legislation brought in to tackle hooliganism in the 70s and 80s still being in existence and enforced in 2018. As she says: “It’s clearly unfair that a person can be treated one way as a football fan on a Saturday and a different way as a rugby fan on a Sunday.”

And there is no doubt football fans are treated differently – locked inside grounds because they can’t be trusted to keep their fists to themselves, not allowed to drink while watching their team play, the stain of hooliganism effecting the more sensible and better-behaved supporters of today and creating a climate where they are not only feared but looked down upon.

Some would suggest that what took place at the London Stadium – multiple pitch invasions and coins allegedly thrown at West Ham’s owners – justifies such attitudes, but those incidents were remarkable because they are so rare. In that particular case they were also sparked by specific and somewhat understandable grievances that in a broader sense simply do not justify grown adults not being allowed to go to the toilet, or to take an extreme case from earlier in the season, female Grimsby Town fans being made to show their bras during security searches at Stevenage.

That incident is a further reflection of how badly supporters can be treated in this country, and while nobody should expect significant changes to such an ingrained mindset any time soon, small gestures which recognise football fans are not different from most people would be welcome.

Like, for instance, telling us when we’ll be able to go home after games and, if I may be so bold, allowing us to have a drink during them.

Sachin Nakrani – follow him on Twitter