Travelling fans to Walsall match accuse force of sending too many officers
A prominent football fan has written to police chiefs with concerns over the high number of officers on duty at Walsall's league match against Grimsby Town.
There was no trouble reported at the League Two game at Bescot Stadium on August 27 attended by 807 away fans. The Lincolnshire club beat the Saddlers 2-1.
The visiting supporters have since complained to West Midlands Police that there were too many officers on duty in proportion to the number of travelling fans in attendance. Around 12 officers were thought to have been present and some were seen standing near the away stand.
But the force told the Express & Star that it's approach was based on previous incidents resulting in "a significant number" of Grimsby fans being arrested at matches last season.
Grimsby Town Football Club director and supporter liaison officer Kristine Green said: "We absolutely understand the calculations for them doing that, but you have to police based on what is there at the time. We thought the match was over-policed.
"We've had a number of games this season with comparable attendance and distance travelled where there were negligible officer numbers. Our match at Rochdale had a similar number of fans going and there was only two officers there and it was similar at Leyton Orient."
Supporters' group the Mariners Trust has now requested a meeting with the force's football liaison unit to air fans' views over the issue due to "a cross-section of fans raising concerns, observations and complaints".
In response West Midlands Police stated: "We received an email from Grimsby Town FC’s supporter liaison officer who had collated some concerns and observations from fans about our policing of the club’s game at Walsall. One of the primary observations was around the number of officers present for the fixture with suggestions it was over-policed.
“Clubs are managed based on their supporter behaviour over previous seasons. Last year Grimsby Town saw a significant number of fan arrests at their football matches – and that’s one of the factors we look at in planning our fixtures. Information like that goes towards our assessment of risk and helps us formulate our plans.
“We’ve invited the supporter liaison officer to attend a future match in the West Midlands so they can better understand our planning and feed back to the fans group. And we are more than happy to join an online meeting with fans to listen to feedback and further explain the process behind our football policing operation.”
In April there were six arrests following the team's away match in Chesterfield and a further three arrests when the team played Stockport days later. The club blamed young fans for the trouble.
