Sheffield Wednesday: Second football club tries for cut in police bill

Sheffield Wednesday have formally approached South Yorkshire Police to press for a reduced bill in the wake of Leeds United’s successful High Court action last month when it was ruled the club should not have to pay West Yorkshire Police to control fans away from the immediate footprint of the Elland Road stadium.

The move by Wednesday – which could be followed by other Yorkshire clubs – may result in South Yorkshire Police having to find a sum comfortably running into six figures to patrol fans congregated in areas away from the Hillsborough stadium.

John Rutherford, stadium operations manager at Hillsborough, said the club was now expecting to pay less for matchday policing and viewed this Saturday’s potential flashpoint fixture with Millwall – a club with a notorious following – as a test case for how policing bills will be calculated in future.

The Leeds court decision is likely to cost West Yorkshire Police hundreds of thousands in refunded costs for policing beyond Elland Road levied over the three years from the start of the club’s legal action plus more to pay for future match-day policing.

Last night Leeds United chief executive officer Shaun Harvey said: “Leeds United are working with West Yorkshire Police to ensure that the judgement is implemented in relation to our requests for special police services. This process is ongoing and is dealt with on a game-by-game basis.”

West Yorkshire Police said the option of a legal appeal remained under consideration but negotiations with the club were ongoing.

For previous high-risk Sheffield Wednesday fixtures, including last season’s derby match with Sheffield United and the previous season’s last day of the season relegation decider with Crystal Palace, Wednesday paid around £29,000 to cover policing within the immediate environs of Hillsborough but a further £16,000 for policing elsewhere in Sheffield.

As a result of the Leeds United case, Wednesday now believes the bill for policing away from Hillsborough is not the club’s responsibility.

The issue could affect clubs as low down as York City, which returned to the Football League this season. A North Yorkshire Police spokeswoman said: “There is a very tightly defined footprint for which the force recovers a portion of the policing costs at Bootham Crescent and we are hopeful that this will not be affected by the ruling. However, we will continue to monitor and review our cost recovery process as more information and detail becomes available.”

Mr Rutherford said: “Clearly we are now in a position to challenge (the costs) in the light of the new ruling. Certainly it’s an item for discussion between Sheffield Wednesday and South Yorkshire Police.”

He said South Yorkshire Police had informed the club of the need for extra policing to cover this Saturday’s game against Millwall and Wednesday had queried who would be paying for it.

He added that Wednesday enjoyed a good relationship with the force which the club was keen to maintain and he hoped a compromise over payments would be reached.

“We recognise the club has a duty of care towards our supporters, neighbours, residents and local businesses and we want people to see the club taking it responsibilities seriously. We are prepared to contribute towards policing – but not the full cost.”

South Yorkshire Police did not respond to a request to comment.