Age difference

Forcing young fans to jump through hoops to attend non-League games risks driving them away forever

By SEAN COLE

Tribalism is integral to football’s extraordinary appeal. The difficulty has always been in cultivating that intense passion without allowing it to spill over into intimidation and violence. Finding the right balance, and maintaining it, can feel almost impossible.

In recent years, there has been a resurgence in ultras culture at clubs across the country, especially at non-League level. Some clubs have found this a positive experience, embracing the added noise and enthusiasm of boisterous young fans, while others have encountered issues. In some instances, the matchday atmosphere has become unpleasantly hostile for regular supporters and difficult for volunteers to manage.

This troublesome strain of ultras culture is quite different to the more playful use of tifos, drums and co-ordinated chanting by the likes of Clapton CFC, Eastbourne Town and West Didsbury & Chorlton. It tends more towards hooliganism – deliberate provocation, vandalism and fighting – albeit of a much lower magnitude than the kind that blighted British football in the 1980s. It seeks to mimic those behaviours but doesn’t carry anywhere near the same level of serious threat.

As the cost of tickets has become inordinately expensive at the top of the football pyramid, the average age of match-going fans has risen too. Young people have largely been priced out of the Premier League and the Championship especially, leading many to seek a more affordable alternative. Small yet lively groups have found that they can make their presence felt much more easily at a non-League game, but clubs of that size don’t typically have the resources needed to deal with the trouble that can sometimes result.

This approach feels both heavy-handed and clearly unfair

In non-League, tickets are normally far easier to obtain and not tied to a traceable account in the same way as they are at bigger clubs. There’s less CCTV monitoring, and fewer police and stewards present on matchday. Crowds aren’t segregated so trouble can start more easily and be difficult to contain. Since the start of the season, a host of clubs, including Tonbridge Angels, Alvechurch, Margate and Harborough Town, have put out statements about supporter conduct.

Over the summer, the National League introduced a league-wide policy that anyone under the age of 14 can only attend a match if their ticket has been bought by an adult and they’re also accompanied by one on the day. This unfairly penalises young supporters who want to watch football with their friends and have no intention of causing trouble.

In August, Slough Town attracted criticism for partnering with IDentiSurge. The company, founded by journeyman striker Inih Effiong, already works with Salisbury and Dagenham & Redbridge.

Young supporters must download their app and provide it with a photo and official form of ID to enable them to attend games.

This development has caused considerable unease. It creates a higher barrier to entry for young supporters, almost inevitably stopping some from attending, and means they have to share personal information with IDentiSurge in order to do so. They simply shouldn’t have to go through this many steps to watch their team. Matchgoing fans are the lifeblood of football – alienating or excluding a particular element risks turning them away from the game forever.

All Slough supporters aged between 14 and 21 need an IDentiSurge account to attend matches. While there will be no extra charge for home fans, young away fans who don’t already have an account with their own club will be required to pay an additional £1.99 for a day pass to enter Arbour Park. This approach feels both heavy-handed and clearly unfair.

Treating football supporters like (potential) thugs never ends well. It fuels suspicion and hostility rather than tempering it. Resentment festers. Where possible, fans should be made to feel welcome by their club and encouraged to become part of its community. Has sufficient effort been made to engage with the young fans acting out their misguided hooliganism fantasies before deciding to put these restrictions in place?

This is understandably a thorny issue for small clubs unaccustomed to these situations and ill-equipped to handle them. Charting the right course is hard and mistakes will inevitably be made. But these mistakes should at least be well inten - tioned, whereas the use of IDentiSurge carries an uncomfortably authoritarian air. Young people shouldn’t be subject to this type of surveillance.

The sheer breadth and depth of competitive football in England is an achievement worth treasuring. To preserve it, we need young fans who feel invested in the non-League game. In the social media age, with all its dizzyingly globalised possibilities, that connection to a local club is more precious than ever. Against the odds, many have found one recently and just need some guidance to channel their youthful exuberance in the right way. Discriminating against them certainly isn’t the answer.