Last weekend’s Manchester derby proved to be a truly majestic game of football, epitomising everything that English football stands for. A game full of twists and turns, passion, commitment and most importantly, overriding excitement, something which no other league in the world can offer. Robin Van Persie’s last gasp winner rounded off what was arguably the game of the season, however the game will be remembered for different reasons: the vivid image of Rio Ferdinand clutching his bloodied eye, and Joe Hart tackling a moronic fan. Once again the football has been overshadowed by a mindless minority, determined to bring the game into disrepute and unable to distinguish between support and hooliganism. Sunday’s events once again raised the question, what can be done to prevent similar incidents occurring in the future, with the safety of the players, officials, playing staff and the ‘real fans’ being paramount. One opinion which has gained unrivalled prominence is that of PFA Chairman Gordon Taylor calling for netting around the pitch to be considered…but would this work?
What makes British grounds often far more atmospheric than that of their European counterparts is the proximity of the fans to the pitch, but this undeniably poses a problem. Pitch invasions have become increasingly rare and are more frequently associated with scenes of jubilation at the end of the season than trouble; however you only have to look at the recent incident which saw Chris Kirkland struck by a Leeds United fan to see that the danger still exists: a danger which will always exist as a result of the massive scope of people which football encompasses. But how realistic is netting as a solution? Taylor suggests placing netting around the corners and behind the goals, areas which he sees the players as being most vulnerable. This would undeniably prevent fans in these areas from getting onto the pitch, but netting still wouldn’t ensure that coins, against which players and officials alike are defenceless, wouldn’t be thrown onto the pitch.
Perhaps the greatest flaw to this tentative suggestion is that it implies that the mindless minority are only located within these specific areas of the ground? Historically the more vocal supporters have always sat behind one of the goals or within touching distance of the opposing fans, the Holte End at Villa Park or the Kop at Anfield being prime examples of this. Yet just because this is where the support is most vociferous, doesn’t necessarily equate to these areas being solely where the trouble lays. I refer again to the mindless minority, a group you cannot eliminate, and whom could be located anywhere within the ground.
Having said that something has to be done, as the sight of players being subjected to having missiles thrown at them as they take a corner is becoming all too common. Perhaps netting would serve to an extent to prevent these missiles from reaching the pitch, but the problem is it’s far from realistic to expect netting to be placed around every pitch, in every ground in the country.
The problem is social, its roots are deeply imbedded within areas of society, and perhaps the biggest danger (with the exception of somebody receiving a serious injury) is that the minority are going to drive away those I would call the ‘real football fans.’ Football in this country has advanced greatly from the days of football hooliganism and events like that of the weekend are becoming increasingly isolated, but this is still not good enough. I would strongly advocate the policy of midday kick-offs for games such as derbies or between clubs known to have a history of hostility, Leeds and Milwall immediately spring to mind. I think the impact of alcohol cannot be underestimated either, and reducing people’s intake to as great a degree as possible should be a priority. Yes, I realise that it would be naïve to be of the belief would stop people drinking before the game completely, but I think every little aspect is crucial in ensuring that it’s the football which dominates the following days back pages.
Undoubtedly the solution which would be by far the most effective would be self-policing. I would love to be able to propose this as an attainable solution, but unfortunately it’s not. Nowadays people choose not too get involved, and in my opinion this is rightly so, as confronting a fellow fan even if they are of the same allegiance could put themselves in danger. I accentuate once again the fact that these people aren’t football fans but thugs, who continually get away with these senseless acts because people are not only precipitated by fear, but a very strange sense of unity, just because they are bearing the same coloured shirt. This failure to condone the misbehaviour of a few leaves but one feasible option: far more stringent punishments. Until this is achieved I’m afraid the problem will only continue.
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