Police pleaded for Louis Carey testimonial match to be called off
THE full extent of police concern about serious disorder at this summer's Bristol City v Bristol Rovers friendly has been revealed.
Letters between senior officers and the committee organising Louis Carey's testimonial match at Ashton Gate on August 4 have been published. In them, the police make repeated pleas for the game not to go ahead.
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Louis Carey speaks to the crowd before his testimonial game at Ashton Gate
In reply, the testimonial committee make the unusual suggestion that the £40,000 cost of the match could be reduced, but the full amount paid if there was fighting between fans.
On May 25, Chief Superintendent Andy Francis wrote to David Fear, one of the main organisers of the match, asking him to call it off.
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Citing the force's commitment to help police the Olympics, he wrote: "I would urge you in the strongest possible terms to reconsider your plans.
"We are already receiving strong intelligence to indicate this match will result in significant public disorder in Bristol and this will require me to dedicate substantial policing resources to manage the risk.
"In my view this 'friendly' match is being arranged without consideration for the impact on the wider Bristol community and on the impact on policing resources despite our earlier request to avoid such games at this time."
Mr Fear, in an e-mail to the force on May 30, says: "I note that the policing costs will rise from a high category C fixture of £22,000 plus VAT to £40,000 plus VAT...this quite clearly will have huge implications on the fixture with costs for policing and stewarding rising from £47,929 to £69,529.
"My personal opinion is that we will cancel the fixture as we could not hope to guarantee that figure as a basis to go forward. This will cause a huge public debate as previously stated and all parties should try to avoid this at all costs.
"May I please propose the following as a one-off experiment? The game goes forward on the basis of a minimum charge of Class C band, and a maximum charge of £40,000 should any trouble take place?
"This would enable both clubs to open a debate with all our supporters about the responsibility of full cost recovery, and the effect it can potentially have on the whole future of football in this country in general."
That claim was rejected by Avon & Somerset, but the game went ahead, ending in a 3-0 win for City.
Although there were some flashpoints on the day, a heavy police presence ensured there were no serious incidents, despite the presence on the day of groups of hooligans intent on trouble.
In the end, the overall cost of the police operation was £112,000 – £40,000 of which came from the testimonial committee.
Comments
by Ourbads
Friday, September 07 2012, 5:40PM
“"Although there were some flashpoints on the day, a heavy police presence ensured there were no serious incidents, despite the presence on the day of groups of hooligans intent on trouble"
Care to back this up with evidence EP? Was it their snarling faces that gave it away? Were they openly carrying weapons? Did they write and inform you of their intentions?
Let's be honest, the EP were positively salivating at the prospect of trouble so they could splash it all over the front page.
It didn't happen so now they have to resort to this story. Poor. Very poor.”
by piledriver
Friday, September 07 2012, 3:51PM
“1.There was no significant. costly trouble.
2.Will the EDF & Anti Facists be getting a £40k Bill? for their £500k March/Rally
3.Football, nay sport, isn't against the law.
I'm not saying what went on years ago was right or condoning violence but it's very rare to see any disorder at football these days.”
by max31268
Friday, September 07 2012, 3:49PM
“a bit too much 'pointing' for my liking between the two sets of fans…”
by phantom1974
Friday, September 07 2012, 11:29AM
“The below is taken from another website, but interesting none the less:
"…a total of 274 officers were involved in the operation of which about 265 were 'deployed'. The approximate average tour of duty will have been about 9-10 hours meaning about 2500 hours in total."
"No estimates have been generated of resources other than manpower used to police the game."
9-10 hours to police a game lasting 2 hours???
£112000 for 2500 hours equates to £44.80 per man/hour.
http://tinyurl.com/bpur46z”
by _Mat_
Friday, September 07 2012, 10:21AM
“"Although there were some flashpoints on the day, a heavy police presence ensured there were no serious incidents, despite the presence on the day of groups of hooligans intent on trouble."
The Post knows this, does it? It must have some pretty strong evidence if it can say categorically that there were groups of hooligans there intent on trouble and that it was purely the heavy police presence that stopped it. So...can we see this evidence?!
Or maybe there weren't any groups of hooligans there. Maybe the fact there was no serious trouble had nothing to do with the heavy police presence, which was surprisingly light, but the fact that the police intelligence was not right and that there was never going to be any serious trouble? And maybe there just a lot of fans there who were intent on enjoying a friendly game between rivals, as well as the usual few idiots who get a bit carried away after they've had a couple of pints and they were the flashpoints?
Of course, I wouldn't go as far as suggesting that charging £70,000 to police a friendly game in the middle of summer when most people were actually away on holiday was in any way just a money-making scam...”
by CharlesBridge
Friday, September 07 2012, 10:03AM
“Will the police be sending a bill to a bunch of toffs who bread soap dodgers & squatters or striking teachers etc when they need some police crowd control?
Seeing as you get a nice wage, retire early at the public's cost please do try to show a little more respect for football fans. Many of us even want only to watch a game of football & come on we all work, drink etc with Rovers fans, there is no bases for thinking that each time both Bristol teams meet it will be some kind of war. These days its a lot more about humor....
Best advice, keep on plodding, take the wages and do the job that you do quite well, but please do not forget who pays you. YOU work for US!”
by Roversteve
Friday, September 07 2012, 9:44AM
“If the two Bristol teams ever meet in the same division again will the police take the same stance? Maybe they'll be drawn together in a cup match,what if that happens? Unbelievable and seems to sum up the attitude to football in Bristol!!”
by Roversteve
Friday, September 07 2012, 9:42AM
“Well said!”
by bs3vale
Friday, September 07 2012, 8:38AM
“Breaking News - All sport is cancelled in Bristol as authorities are against it and can't cope! Get real, the Polices fears despite thier large numbers didn't happen and the game passed off with little incident. They say it's because of the large presence of their officers but I think mountain out of a molehill was more like it.
Will they say the same when Millwall and Leeds come to town?
Deal with the minority and let the majority enjoy these events.”