Football clubs, including Brentford, are resisting pressure from the police for them to pay the entire cost of match day policing.
By Chris Moore, Ciaran Brett and Dan Casey
Football clubs, including Brentford, are resisting pressure from the police for them to pay the entire cost of match day policing.
For Brentford, who made a loss of nearly £4million last year, the extra cost would be extremely unwelcome.
Currently football clubs pay for the police presence inside their stadiums and land they own – but the police want clubs to pay more.
The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) wants clubs to pay all police costs associated with a match – including those which are outside the ‘footprint’ of the stadium but a direct consequence of the match.
Assistant Chief Constable Andy Holt told the BBC: “In an ideal world I would like to see no burden on the public purse when it comes to policing football.
The issue which has been simmering for a number of years has an impending court case and it is estimated it would cost an average Championship club £600,000 if the ACPO get their way.
It would be less for Brentford, but the Griffin Park club is already trying to cut their policing costs by using more stewards rather than the police.
The clubs dispute the proposals, saying that British football contributes over £1billion to the economy and the supporters also pay taxes.
A Football League statement said: “We fail to see why fans should pay twice for policing.”
With arrests at football grounds falling by over 300 in the last two seasons and the majority of arrests taking place inside stadia, fans of South West London clubs have expressed confusion at the plans.
Charlton FC forum contributor cafcfan said: “If football clubs were charged for officers outside grounds, where would it end? A charge to motorists for having patrol cars on the roads maybe?”
