Football abroad - a solution to violence
Last updated : 04 November 2009 By Dean Mears
FOR WHAT I am about to say, a lot of credit has to go to the people in the 1970s and 1980s who, every Saturday, rioted at football matches.
These people have given English people, and English teams a bad reputation, when they travel out of the country to watch football matches.
The police, in full riot gear, and sometimes even the Army line the terraces and outside the grounds, to make sure English fans do not get "out of control".
Thankfully the days of football hooliganism are long gone. Of course there's the odd bit of trouble at games, there always will be, the rivalry between teams will never leave the game, and if it does, well in my eyes, that's the death of football.
I'll travelled to Europe to watch my team play, and I personally have seen football violence. Many thanks to the police force of Rome, who led Chelsea fans to the heart of the notorious Roma Ultras, who were lying in wait.
Fans clashed, but it wasn't until Chelsea fans tried to defend themselves that the Italian police decided to respond, again only using their weapons on the English supporters.
And this isn't an isolated incident, Manchester United suffered similar abuse whilst in Rome, an Arsenal fan also encountered Rome hospitality when he was stabbed, and in 2006, 13 Middlesborough fans were taken to hospital while in Rome.
How Rome was chosen to hold the Champions League Final is beyond me.
Tottenham fans, including a man in a wheelchair were attacked by police in Seville; Chelsea fans in Valencia nearly came face to face with police truncheon.
Only the use of video cameras by some fans made the Spanish police put their weapons away, I wonder why that was?
These are only a few examples of the treatment English supporters go to, just to watch their team play.
In England, the police go out of their way to make sure visiting teams are comfortable, can enjoy the game and are in no danger, and I am very proud of that.
Just two weeks ago, when Atheltico Madrid visited Stamford Bridge, Madrid fans and Chelsea fans drank and talked to each other at a local bar.
Something I have never seen in any of my visits abroad.
You are often roaming the streets looking for a Red Lion or the nearest Irish pub in order to have a drink in peace.
Around grounds there is hardly any police in riot gear, but abroad, all there is is police waiting for the first excuse to lay into the visiting English fans.
If this ever happened in England there would be uproar, and that's a good thing.
My solution, an UK police force that travels abroad with travelling teams to make sure they don't have to suffer attacks when they go to watch their team.
These would come from the police stations that are nearest the football clubs, and deal with the troublemakers on a regular basis. As well as new officers who are trained to cope with crowd troubles.
They would liaise with the local police where they are visiting, and would supervise supporters inside and outside the grounds to make sure they had a enjoyable trip and stayed safe while watching their team play.
Most people who go to football just want to have a good time and watch their team play.
Of course, there's always a village idiot who gets too loud, but on the whole supporters are well behaved.
They pay a heck of a lot of money to watch their teams play and deserve to at least be looked after when they travel.
The new UK police force would create new jobs, and in the current economic climate would be a good thing, and with English dominance in Europe, they would be kept busy.
Now I do not know about costs and how this would be put into practice, it is simply an idea - any comments are welcome.
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