Crowd Behaviour at Football Matches

By Great Britain. Ministry of Housing and Local Government. Working Party on Crowd Behaviour at Football Matches; J. Lang

In May 1968 the Football authorities, at your instigation, organised a WorkingParty, under my Chairmanship, to examine the problems associated with football crowd behaviour, in the hope that it would be possible to offer advice and guid-ance to football clubs and other interested parties which might lead to someimprovement. The Working Party was dealing with a subject which has been discussed almostad nauseam during recent years. Not unexpectedly the Working Party has notfound a single simple solution for a problem which is often due to a combinationof factors, which is liable to arise on any occasion when large crowds assemble,especially if the circumstances are exciting, and which is a form of social malaisenot at all unusual in the state of relaxed discipline which is a feature of modernsociety. Probably the three most important of the findings of the Working Party are: (1) Maximum co-operation between a football club and the police. (2) Absolute acceptance of the decision of the referee by everybody. (3) The provision of seats in place of standing accommodation for spectators.

London: HMSO, 1969. 18p.