Video: Policing Non-League football – Wrexham v Stockport

Last month saw Wrexham Football Club take on Stockport County, a fixture resulting in a large policing operation taking place in parts of the town before and after the game.

Wrexham.com sat in on police planning and briefing meetings ahead of the match, along with accompanying police on the day itself. We have created the below video of what we saw:

Police briefings and operational discussions we sat in on clearly came from a position of wanting to facilitate the football match with as little disruption to Wrexham as a community, as well as those fans attending just for a football match.

Information on 50-60 possible troublesome supporters from Stockport were flagged as ‘risk’ fans, with many known ‘faces’ apparently likely to attend the match. Wrexham had similar groups identified, however it was noted several times that ‘an emerging group of kids as young as 12’ were seen as specific troublemakers.

The policing operation focussed on keeping Wrexham and Stockport fans apart while letting everyone have a positive match day experience, be it having a few drinks in a pub before the game, or allowing shoppers and traders in Wrexham town centre to go about their business unaffected.

Intelligence had been gathered on specific fans, with some having previous or active banning orders, and on the day it was clear that the police knew their faces as well as the fans themselves knew the faces of specific police officers.

After hours of office based planning match day arrived with a large pre-operation briefing for officers who would be out on the streets and in the ground.

A lecture theatre in Wrexham Glyndwr University was filled with police who were updated on the operational plan for the day, with Stockport fans encouraged to use a designated away fan public house, and then a walk up to the Racecourse ground via the Crispin Lane entrance to the ground.

After the match fans were to be directed to buses, and then they would leave the area.

Shortly after the briefing ended ‘spotters’ from both Manchester and North Wales based police had noted several known Stockport fans were congregating in the Elihu Yale Wetherspoon pub on Regent Street. That pub was not the designated away pub, and is traditionally used by Wrexham fans having a quiet pint before the game.

The operation then was based around monitoring the fans in the public house, with officers entering the premises and having a good natured chat with fans inside. At one point it was considered if an escorted move to the designated public house was possible, but after a quick assessment it was decided to leave the group of Stockport fans where they were.

For most of the morning and into the afternoon the atmosphere was jovial with the odd song exchanged between Stockport fans and passers by, many who were confused shoppers wondering why there was a line of police outside Wetherspoons. Many stopped to take pictures or film the group, with more good natured exchanges taking place.

Chester Races was holding a meeting several miles north, and with the bus station to the rear of the Wetherspoons there was often a range of baffled smartly dressed men and women walking past the police and Stockport group.

The secure but spirited atmosphere changed within seconds. Police had noticed several individuals heading up Regent Street from town towards the Wetherspoons. Although not as quickly as one officer liked, a line of police blocked Regent Street outside Superdrug.

Another fell in in front of the Wetherspoons pub creating a no go area in between. Smoke was let off by Stockport fans and the anti-Welsh songs were strongly countered from the small group of Wrexham fans who had appeared.

It felt like the Wrexham group evaporated away, however instead they had made their way through Island Green and around by the museum in an attempt to get at the Stockport group from another direction. Another police line had been created to block that route, so the attempt was thwarted. Several other side streets had police vans or groups of officers in place ready to head off any further attempts.

With the 3pm kick off approaching police cajoled the Stockport fans out of the Wetherspoons pub and herded them into a group on Regent Street. Police vans at the rear, officers at the sides and at the front, they were walked up to the Racecourse.

The walk saw the group turn right down Crispin Lane, within a few metres of the Turf pub where a large group of Wrexham fans had been enjoying some pre match refreshments. Again with the now common double line of policing in place, allowing both groups to shout safely at the other, the groups were able to pass without direct contact.

Once in the ground the game did not go Wrexham’s way, with jubilant Stockport fans making the most of their footballing advantage. Overall the 5,777 fans created a great atmosphere with the Racecourse rocking as it saw a now sadly rare proper crowd in the stands.

One corner of the ground saw away fans and home fans only a £2 coins throw away from each other, a measurement that was well tested during the match. Coins, bottles and assorted rubbish were hurled by both fans at each other, with stewards and police in the middle.

Overall the 5,777 crowd on the day dispersed after the game without issue. However there were several flash points between a minority of fans quite a while after the final whistle.

The incidents took place in a mile radius of the stadium however with issues at the station quickly followed by an incident by Plas Coch retail park entrance police resources did appear stretched at times.

Stockport fans parking in the Turf carpark were targeted by a group of Wrexham fans, however nearby police quickly put themselves between the two small groups, while Stockport buses on the Glyndwr University carpark were also targeted.

We are unsure if Wrexham fans went past the station and double backed into Rhosddu, or took the longer route under Stansty railway bridge and trekked back to Rhosddu, but the end result was a direct conflict between Stockport and Wrexham on the nearby footpath.

Similar odd routes were taken for a second attempt to get at the Stockport buses, again pulling police in different directions, with a small group of Wrexham fans picking their way through the Glyndwr campus to pop out by the ‘B&Q’ roundabout just as the coaches were leaving the area. Police again managed to get there just in time to ensure a row of fluorescent jackets was in between the two groups.

Coaches full of Stockport fans disappeared on to the A483 and with that the remaining Wrexham fans wandered back towards town. Police, many who had been in and around the Racecourse for ten or more hours, removed kit and had a quick snack.

After the operation police told us their concerns over groups of Wrexham fans in the 12-17 age bracket who were ‘getting involved and looking for disorder’. Background work with parents has been taking place, with the clear question several times through the day of if parents knew what their kids were up to.

PC Dave Evans told us, “I don’t think I’ve seen a punch being thrown. I think it’s been contained really, really well. I think I think from our point of view, certainly the initial thought is, that the operation has gone really well.”