Is cocaine fuelling a new era of football violence?

Adolf Goebbels
Published on Feb 19, 2023
Football violence in the UK is on the rise: pitch invasions; players and coaches being attacked by fans; fighting inside and outside grounds across England and Wales. But whatâ€™s driving it? Cocaine and class-A drugs? A new generation of younger fans? Or a collective release of bottled frustrations after two years of Covid lockdowns?

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The police are cracking down with new banning orders, targeting fans supplying cocaine and other Class-A narcotics, meaning theyâ€™re not allowed back inside grounds for years.

But experts say blanket bans wonâ€™t work, that the approach needs to focus on education and identifying the next generation of troublemakers before itâ€™s too late.

In the meantime, itâ€™s left to the stewards, who have seen their workforce depleted after the pandemic, to deal with ripped up seats, broken bottles, abuse and anti-social behaviour.

Are we heading back to an era of violence, with echoes of the 1980s hooliganism that tarnished British football in the eyes of the world, or is there a way to restore calm in football grounds across the country?

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