Police mistakes laid bare over Hull-Huddersfield crowd crackdown

The force has apologised to fans and promised to review its policy on policing football matches and major events after being heavily criticised for its approach to the possibility of crowd trouble at the game between Huddersfield Town and Hull in March.

After the match was moved from lunchtime to 5.20pm at the request of Sky TV, police ordered Tigers’ fans to catch an official coach from Hull for the match in Huddersfield and restricted the number of away tickets available to 1,700.

Many Hull City fans boycotted the game or held protests against the ‘draconian’ decision to ban most supporters from making their own way to the game, while manager Steve Bruce branded the restrictions “total nonsense”.

In July West Yorkshire Chief Constable Mark Gilmore asked for a review of the force’s handling of the match to be carried out by Northumbria Police.

The report by Deputy Chief Constable Steve Ashman made nine recommendations, including that bosses “urgently address the public concern this event has generated through a transparent explanation of events and a clear outline of changes that will be implemented.”

And Mr Ashman called for West Yorkshire to review the way it polices such events, including better use of the safety advisory group (SAG) that advises the local council which issues the stadium with its safety certificate.

Despite objecting to the change in kick-off because of a fear of possible crowd trouble, rather than call for an emergency meeting of the SAG in attempt to influence the decision the force met with Huddersfield Town officials in a bid to reduce the perceived risk of disorder.

Mr Ashman said: “In agreeing to measures outside of the SAG, West Yorkshire Police exposed

themselves to shouldering any risk that subsequently emerged.”

Internal emails released under the Freedom of Information Act in July revealed that the police’s own lawyers warned bosses they could be seen to be “acting irrationally” by imposing travel restrictions on Hull’s fans.

A message sent by a member of the force’s legal services team in relation to the threat of legal action by the club’s fans said the way it had policed an earlier game between Leeds United and Derby County could be an “area of weakness” if the case went to court.

Mr Ashman’s report does not criticise the force’s objection on the grounds of possible crowd trouble, saying “there existed a credible and evidenced intelligence base for the decision”.

He said: “Put bluntly had they not objected they would have failed in their duty to adequately

assess the risk. This was an appropriate decision made in the context of the informed

intelligence picture, it was absolutely the right decision.”

In his conclusion, he criticised the force for starting talks on matters such as ticket collection arrangements and park and ride schemes which were “arguably outside the scope of the

police role”.

And he said failing to record the minutes of meetings with Huddersfield and formalise a communications strategy “led to them playing catch up and reacting to a growing opinion base that had turned on West Yorkshire Police”.

He said: “One might conclude that it became convenient for all parties to allow West Yorkshire

Police to become the villain in this tale although there existed opportunities for West

Yorkshire Police to prevent or minimise this, which were missed, or at the least to

equip themselves with a robust defensible position which they could rely upon.

“This was arguably all foreseeable and there is a sense of inevitability that in trying to

be all things to all parties they have become fixed in the eye of the storm.”

In response to the report, Mark Gilmore, who was not in post at the time of the match, said the recommendations had been accepted and would be implemented in full.

He said: “As chief constable I wish to apologise on behalf of West Yorkshire Police to all supporters and those who rightfully raised concerns on their behalf, for any upset or inconvenience caused.”

The Northumbria review has come under fire from Hull City fans and a local MP, who say police have still provided no evidence for their decision to impose travel restrictions in the first place.

Hull North Diana Johnson MP said: “This report by Northumbria Police into the Huddersfield vs Hull City debacle on 30 March contains a lot about various ways West Yorkshire Police can record their decisions better and improve their internal and external communications.

“However, it leaves me none the wiser as to what the evidence was upon which they based their travel restrictions on Hull City fans and therefore the whole rationale for the decision taken.

“All we know is that there has not been any crowd trouble at any recent matches between Hull City and Huddersfield and that there are other fixtures in the region that have a worse record of crowd disorder, without such travel restrictions being imposed on them.”

Ian Waterson, co-editor of the Hull City fanzine City Independent, said he was disappointed with the Northumbria review’s conclusion that “intelligence that existed at the time indicated a strong likelihood that disorder would occur”.

He said: “We are delighted to get an apology but it seems very hollow. The force have taken on every recommendation that has been made but they have neglected to square up to what the fans’ genuine concerns were.

“From the FOI response we got back there was clear evidence to say there was no intelligence [of possible crowd trouble] and that the force were frantically searching Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to see if they could find intelligence.”

Stephen King, chairman of the Huddersfield Town Supporters Association, said he believed the force would not have apologised to fans if they hadn’t campaigned to get information released about the policing of the game.

He said: “They have apologised because they have been told to, that sticks in the throat a bit. They are going to have to do a lot of PR work to get the fans back on-side. The whole thing leaves a bit of a sour taste in the mouth.”