Research articles

“The English model”: Measures against football violence in England – background, measures, effects

October 14, 2024

🇸🇪 Summary in Swedish

Anders Almgren¹, Filip Lundberg Verendel^1,2, Neil Williams¹
& Jonas Havelund^1,3¹ Enable Sweden; ² Djurgårdens IF; ³ Department of Sports Science
and Clinical Biomechanics at University of Southern Denmark

This article reviews how football-related disorder has been handled in England from the 1950s to the beginning of the 2000s. The focus is on legislation with emphasis on, among other things, alcohol restrictions, public inspections, national and international suspensions and bans on standing places.

In addition to giving a picture of the UK’s mainly repressive measures against disorder, the driving forces of the process as well as the effects of the measures are discussed. The work was often pushed forward in a cycle where a major incident triggered an infected public debate, which in turn led to public inquiries and politically determined action. This may partly explain the predominantly repressive orientation of the British work. The effects are discussed, among other things, based on questioning from the academic side of how the implementation of increasingly controlling and repressive measures has entailed a series of unintended consequences that have created new challenges. It is noted that, despite progress, certain problems remain, and that parts of the legislation are criticized for being disproportionately intrusive and lacking legal certainty.

Finally, the article emphasizes the importance of balancing repressive measures with preventive efforts and dialogue to effectively deal with disorder. The positive examples of this found in the British work are often forgotten in the Swedish debate. If the picture of the “English model” is nuanced, the experiences from England can provide valuable insights for Sweden in the work against football’s organizational challenges.

Get The English model article in Swedish

ANDERS ALMGREN is the operational manager of ENABLE Sweden. He holds a master’s degree in Sociology from Gothenburg University. Before joining ENABLE Sweden he worked 5 years as a Supporter Liaison Officer at IFK Göteborg. Anders regularly does presentations at police courses on counterpart perspective and police legitimacy.

FILIP LUNDBERG VERENDEL holds a master’s degree in political science from Södertörn University. He is the co-founder of ENABLE Sweden. Filip works as head of sustainability at Djurgårdens IF where he works with football and ice hockey.

NEIL WILLIAMS , PhD, teaches English in Casablanca, Morocco. Neil has conducted observations of the interaction between supporters and police in Sweden as part of ENABLE Sweden, and he has also conducted interviews with both Swedish police officers and football supporters. Additionally, he has carried out fieldwork in the United Kingdom. He received his PhD from Keele University in England in 2023 for his work on the subject of Policing Football in Sweden: a Participant Action Research project conducted with the football community.

JONAS HAVELUND is head of secretariat at the Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics at University of Southern Denmark. His research interests lie in the interaction between football supporters, club representatives and police. He has participated in training activities for police officers in Denmark aimed at strengthening their competencies in policing football matches for more than ten years and has been part of ENABLE Sweden since the project’s inception.