In the summer of 2021, an academic survey revealed that more than 30 per cent of
football fans had witnessed cocaine being taken inside a football stadium,
with six per cent admitting to personal use.
Why is the drug so prevalent in stadiums, and what’s being done about it?
The authorities are increasingly aware of problems. The UK’s football policing lead,
chief constable Mark Roberts, has told The Athletic that small-scale research this season
revealed cocaine was detected when swabbing “100 per cent” of toilet
cubicles in one section of a Premier League ground. Further investigations will now be
held at other venues in an attempt to grasp the magnitude of cocaine use.
Roberts accepts there is still “a gap in the information and our understanding” of
cocaine use among football fans. Drug use or possession was reported at only
103 matches in England and Wales during the entire 2019-20 season,
81 per cent of which involved cocaine, but those numbers do not reflect the problem.
The Athletic has written to all 20 Premier League clubs this month asking what, if any,
preventative measures have been taken to curb drug use within their stadiums. Eight offered
a response, all asking not to have their precise strategies made publicly known.
Every club said they used sniffer dogs outside of turnstiles,
as well as having regular and random spot checks on supporters entering the ground.
One club said they place a greater focus on away turnstiles and another said stewards
were deployed to check the toilets in areas of the ground considered high-risk.
Manchester United, who said they had no evidence to suggest cocaine use
was a “material or growing problem”, added they would eject any supporter found with
cocaine and hand them to police. Criminal activity, according to their fans’ charter,
could also lead to an indefinite ban. Brighton & Hove Albion were the only
club that publicly accepted there was an issue for football to address.
“We are increasingly concerned,” a Brighton spokesperson told The Athletic.
When football considers how big a problem cocaine use has become among fans,
the debate is primarily shaped by the links to increases in violence and disorder.
Dr Martha Newson, an anthropologist at the University of Kent and University of Oxford,
produced a research paper this year that highlighted almost a third of adult football
fans had witnessed cocaine use within a stadium, with one in every 100 admitting
they had taken cocaine when attending a game. A telling line was also drawn.
“Cocaine use among football fans has already been associated with the
construction of ‘hyper-masculine identities’ and associated aggression,” the paper said.
Dr Newson concluded that fans using cocaine would likely be more aggressive to rivals.
“Cocaine can enhance egos,” she told The Athletic.
“When that comes together with these intense bonds and tribal identity you get with football,
you feel even more powerful in a masculine environment. You’ve got the weight of a
football club behind you. It’s a cocktail with that tribal identity that comes out with a match.”
“There are vastly more people doing cocaine now than even five years ago.
It’s very noticeable,” says Professor Geoff Pearson, an expert on the policing of football
and a senior lecturer in criminal law at the University of Manchester.
“It’s become a part of that carnival fan culture of transgression and intoxication.
But is there a link with disorder and violence?
“Undoubtedly, some people will get more aggressive when they’ve had cocaine”, adds Professor Pearson.
“(But) I don’t think there’s a direct cause and link — if there was we would have seen a
dramatic rise in football. We don’t have data yet to suggest that’s happening.”
Michael, a former cocaine user, also has doubts.
“If you look back to the ’70s and ’80s when football violence was rife, drug use was very low,
certainly coke. Most lads carrying on then, it was a backlash against everyone. It’s still a case of
you see a group of lads in your town who aren’t from your town and that’s how it all starts.”
Cocaine, according to the Office of National Statistics,
was the UK’s second-most used drug in 2020,
behind only cannabis. Figures suggest 2.6 per cent of 16- to 59-year-olds used powder cocaine,
equivalent to 873,000 adults. Among young adults, aged 16-24, there is a 5.3 per cent reported use.
The prevalence of cocaine use is considered to be around four times greater than it was in 1995
and that upturn has come against a backdrop of increased availability and falling prices.
Data from the United Nations says the average cost of street cocaine
has fallen by almost two-thirds of its price in 1990. It has overtaken
amphetamines and ecstasy to stand alone as the most frequently-used Class A substance in the UK.
Other well-attended sporting events are also encountering inevitable issues.
The UK’s big horse racing meetings are battling with cocaine abuse and in tennis,
the Wimbledon Championships launched an inquiry in 2013
after numerous toilets were found to contain traces of the illegal substance.
According to The Cocaine Trade, a Home Affairs Committee paper published in 2010,
the drug has “powerful stimulant properties” and its use produces “exhilaration,
indifference to fatigue and feelings of great physical strength”.
“Following a football club, especially for that 18-25 age group, is about
having a laugh in a party environment. It’s a ritual setting and people have
used drugs in ritual settings all around the world and have done for millennia.
So how does football solve this problem?
Current measures, such as sniffer dogs and pat searches, cannot hope to stem use.
That is best summed up by a stark reality over how cocaine is policed at games.
“Resources are stretched like a lot of public services”, says one serving police officer.
“You have to concentrate on certain priorities.”
“The main thing is reducing trouble.
That’s what all your match-day planning is focused on. There’s a recognition that some
supporters will be coked up and as you get more experienced, you can spot them.
Owen West, a specialist in crowd policing and a former chief superintendent, agrees
that police resources are one of the biggest problems when it comes to tackling cocaine use.
“For every arrest you make, you’re likely to lose two cops,” he tells The Athletic.
“One person is going to take away two police officers. If you’re doing that three, four or
five times in a group then you very quickly get to the point where there’s no resources left.
“It’s about crowd control more than crime control.”
West also believes the current “distant” policing strategies
do little to curb cocaine use among football fans.
“Police tend to have a tactical approach where they work from distance,” he says.
“What they’re failing to do is get into crowds and build a relationship to find out what’s happening.
“What they’ll generally do is pen them in a pub and wait outside. They’ve no idea
what’s going on inside and whether drugs are being taken or if behaviour has deteriorated.
This, however, is not just an issue for police. Every club has a responsibility
to ensure drug use is stopped on their premises, just like in a nightclub or pub.
“We need to understand the issues and drive football clubs to deal with it,” says Roberts.
“What are the clubs doing? Are they putting stewards in toilets? Are they using sniffer dogs?
Are they using things that make it harder to use drugs in toilets?
Putting baby oil or something on the top of a toilet so you can’t snort drugs off that surface?
“Of course, the police have to play a part. If we see criminality then we’ll get involved
to try and tackle it but the starting point should be the club trying to deal with it.
One Premier League club said possession of a Class A substance would bring an initial three-game ban
and require the fan to sign a behaviour agreement. Being caught for a second time would then likely
bring a permanent exclusion order. A fine would likely follow a police arrest for carrying
small amounts of cocaine, although a custodial sentence of up to 51 weeks cannot be ruled out.
Chief Constable Mark Roberts would like to see sterner punishments become a greater deterrent.
He proposed in the wake of the chaos at Euro 2020 that cocaine use inside a football ground
should be punished with a Football Banning Order. Breaching one of those is a criminal offence,
punishable by a maximum sentence of six months in prison.
There is no immediate prospect of that change in legislation happening, though.
“That would be an important tool for us to have” he says.
“It’s just about catching up with the times. It wasn’t as prevalent when this legislation
was published but it now is. That’s why we need the evidence base from several grounds
to work with clubs and come back with a clear understanding of use and misuse.
“The Premier League is very image-conscious but if we bury heads in the sand
then these things can come back to bite you.”