Ban on ticketless football fans set to become law

BBC News

11-07-2025

Football fans who enter or attempt to enter matches in England and Wales without a ticket face a ban after legislation cleared the House of Commons. The bill makes unauthorised entry to a football match a criminal offence. Following a conviction for that offence, a court would ban someone from attending any professional football matches.Convicted fans would also face a fine of up to £1,000.The draft legislation still needs to be passed by the House of Lords, but is likely to become law as it is supported by both the government and the Conservatives.
Unathorised entry into a match can include tailgating a fan with a ticket through barriers, but it can also include forced entry, bribing stadium staff, or using deception to enter - such as impersonating a member of staff.The draft law comes following disorder at the Euro 2020 final at Wembley in 2021, when thousands of fans force entry into the stadium.An FA-commissioned report led by Baroness Louise Casey said the disorder could have led to deaths and recommended making tailgating into a match a criminal offence.The measures would cover fans who attempt to enter the premises - such as the first ticket check on the run up to a stadium - but who fail to make it into a match itself.But it would not apply to fans who enter a match with a fake ticket they believe to be genuine, or entering a match with a valid ticket which they were not eligible to use.It would also not stop those without tickets but with legitimate reasons to enter matches, such as stadium employees, journalists and emergency workers.
Labour MP Linsey Farnsworth, who proposed the law, said it was needed as the lack of current consequences means "ticketless individuals can and do repeatedly attempt to gain entry to a match until they give up or are indeed successful".The MP for Amber Valley, in Derbyshire, highlighted the "uneasy" experience of two of her friends who were at the Euro 2020 final at Wembley, whom she said were put off from attending England games again.She said the intention was for the measures to come into force at the start of this year's football season.But Conservative backbencher Sir Christopher Chope criticised the change, saying it risked trivialising legislation and that the disorder at the Euro 2020 final was a "one-off incident".Security Minister Dan Jarvis said that the problem was a recurring one, telling MPs that "forced entry, tailgating, and so-called jibbing, are not victimless acts".He added: "Those involved are often aggressive, violent or threatening, and their actions can lead to overcrowding, blocked emergency exists and frightening conditions for innocent fans."A similar bill was introduced during the last parliament, but it failed to make it onto the statute book before the general election.