Leeds United 1 West Yorkshire Police 0

A recent case in the footballing world has interesting connotations for policing in the wider community on match days and in particular potentially the leisure industry!

There has been a spate of cases in recent years as to who should pay for the policing costs of football matches (and other events such as music festivals) both in and around the ground/event venue.

A quite long running case involving Leeds United FC and West Yorkshire Police has just been heard in the Court of Appeal. (7 March 2013).

Previous cases had confirmed that football clubs were responsible for policing costs within the ground and even its immediate environs.

This case was in relation to public streets near to the ground but not owned by the club. The case provides an interesting narrative on requests for assistance from police as opposed to the police being called on an emergency basis to protect the public.

It was accepted in the current case that on non – match days the areas around the ground not owned by the club (referred to in the case as the extended footprint) were deserted and that on match days the policing was as a result of those attending the match. West Yorkshire Police also accepted that the increased policing at Leeds train station should not be at the cost of the club even though it was as a result of increased numbers travelling to the football match. However they maintained that the club should pay for policing in “the extended footprint”!

The Court of Appeal (Master of the Rolls) found that:

“the policing of the extended footprint on match days is provided in order to maintain law and order and protect life and property in public place. None of the arguments advanced by WYP (West Yorkshire Police) persuades me that the law and order services provided by them in the expended footprint are different in principle from the law and order services that they provide in any other public place”

As such WYP failed in their appeal.

The Judgement can be found HERE

An interesting question could be whether this has any implication for Late Night Levies…..

We will keep you posted.