The Premier League has announced a new partnership with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) aimed at strengthening matchday safety and improving the
experience of football fans across England and Wales.
Under the agreement, the League will invest up to £10 million to support a series of pilot projects using new technology and innovative policing approaches. The pilots will be rolled out from next year in London, Merseyside and the West Midlands.
The Premier League already works closely with the UK Football Policing Unit to help deliver safe and enjoyable matchdays. The new partnership is designed to build on that collaboration by testing new operational methods that could be adopted more widely.
Planned pilots include the use of drones in the West Midlands to provide police with improved situational awareness around stadiums, helping them manage risks to public safety more effectively. In Merseyside, police will trial the use of data and AI-driven predictive modelling to better understand crowd dynamics, while in London live intelligence-led facial recognition technology will be piloted to identify and prevent serious offenders from attending matches.
Organisers say the projects will be evaluated to determine whether they can improve the safe and effective delivery of football matches and other large public events. Lessons learned and best practice could be shared nationally, benefiting sport and major events beyond football.
Alongside the new partnership, the Premier League has already committed an additional £3 million to initiatives designed to enhance the fan experience inside stadiums, including improvements to national stewarding.
Clare Sumner, Chief Policy and Social Impact Officer at the Premier League, said: “The experience and safety of our fans is a key priority, and the Premier League is committed to making our stadia as welcoming as possible for everyone.
“The Premier League recognises the significant contribution that police forces make to the safety of Premier League fans, both on match days and more broadly in the communities that our Clubs are at the heart of. I am pleased that this partnership will take our collaboration further, building an even stronger relationship between the Premier League and police.”
Chief Constable Mark Roberts, UK Football Policing Unit, the national lead for football policing, said: “This is a positive joint approach between policing, the Premier League and Clubs to deliver safe and secure football events for supporters and the general public. It enables us to develop technologies that will assist us in our joint efforts and I cannot think of any similar initiative anywhere else in the world. The additional benefit is that it will allow us to develop national capability which is transferable to other areas of policing and public safety.”
Sarah Jones MP, Minister of State for Policing and Crime, said: “Every fan deserves to feel safe when they go to the game, so I welcome the Premier League working with the police to use cutting-edge technology at match days. By working together, we can ease pressure on officers, while improving public safety.”
The strategic partnership will be overseen by a senior leadership group chaired by Dame Lynne Owens, with representatives from the Premier League and senior police leaders from Merseyside, the West Midlands, the Metropolitan Police Service and Greater Manchester. Local forces will work with Premier League clubs and engage with supporters and other stakeholders as the pilots are developed and delivered. Photo by Oldelpaso, Wikimedia commons.