Football fans who try to enter stadiums without tickets are set to face fines and match bans in time for the Euro 2028 tournament, MPs have heard.
Linsey Farnsworth’s Unauthorised Entry To Football Matches Bill cleared the Commons on Friday, four years to the day after disorder at Wembley Stadium when Italy beat England 3-2 on penalties in the 2020 Uefa European Championship final held in 2021.
“The important thing is that we can get this legislation in place in time for when we co-host the next European finals, which is 2028, and I think we should be in good time for that,” the Labour MP for Amber Valley said.
Ms Farnsworth’s private member’s bill would add unauthorised entry at matches to a list of football offences and mean spectators who tailgate through a turnstile behind a legitimate ticket-holder or force their way into stadiums without their own ticket will be fined up to £1,000 or given a banning order.
“Unauthorised entry often takes the form of tailgating, as we’ve heard – also called jibbing – where a ticketless person pushes through the turnstiles behind an unsuspecting ticket-holding fan,” Ms Farnsworth told the Commons.
“Currently, if caught, tailgaters will likely be ejected without facing any other consequences.
“Therefore, ticketless individuals can and do repeatedly attempt to gain entry to a match until they give up or are indeed successful.
“This is not a trivial matter: it has significant consequences for fans in the stadium, and the stewards and security staff working there.”
Ms Farnsworth, who is an Everton supporter, added that where “mass entry” takes place, its consequences can be “dangerous and tragic”.
The Bill responds to an independent review of the Uefa European Championship final held at Wembley in north London on July 11 2021.
Baroness Casey of Blackstock found “a minority of England supporters turned what should have been a day of national pride into a day of shame”.
Where tailgating fans were ejected, they “could not be arrested due to the number involved and practical considerations”, according to the reviewer, and they were “effectively ‘recycled’ onto the concourse, free to try again at a different set of turnstiles”.
Around 100,000 people travelled to Wembley for the final “of which approximately 2,000 gained entry to the stadium without tickets”, with 17 mass breaches of the gates in the 90 minutes before kick-off until the penalty shootout.
Conservative former minister Sir Christopher Chope tried to amend Ms Farnsworth’s Bill so that it would only criminalise entering, not “attempts to enter”, football premises without a ticket.
Put to a vote, in which he acted as a teller with Father of the House Sir Edward Leigh, his bid failed by 47 votes to zero.
“It seems to me that such attempts are less important than the actual unlawful entry, and that to include them in the same category is disproportionate and unreasonable,” Sir Christopher said.
Sir Edward, who is also a Tory former minister, suggested that “children or young people sneaking in without harmful intent” could face criminal records and asked: “Are we really going to do that?”
Referring to MPs’ concerns that someone who had bought a counterfeit ticket might face prosecution, Ms Farnsworth referred to a part of her Bill which would create a defence for fans who have “something that they reasonably believed was a match ticket for the match”.
The Bill received support from the Conservative Party, Weald of Kent MP Katie Lam affirmed at the despatch box.
Security minister Dan Jarvis described unauthorised entry as a “recurring problem” and added: “Such behaviour is not only selfish and dishonest, but it’s also fundamentally dangerous.
“It places enormous strain on stadium security, creates serious risks to public safety and undermines the experience of law-abiding fans.
“The Government is clear, this cannot and will not be allowed to continue, and that is why we are supporting this Bill.
“Forced entry, tailgating and so-called ‘jibbing’ are not victimless acts. Those involved are often aggressive, violent or threatening, and their actions can lead to overcrowding, blocked emergency exits and frightening conditions for innocent fans.”
MPs called “aye” to support Ms Farnsworth’s Bill at third reading, which will undergo further scrutiny in the Lords at a later date.
The Euro 2028 tournament is set to take place throughout the UK and Ireland.
