Northumbria Police have announced that they are taking action to guard against further trouble after Newcastle matches at St James Park.
After the last game against Norwich, gangs of younger people threw eggs and other items at visiting supporters as they left the stadium, with there also being claims that one person was assaulted.
After the Wolves Cup match there was also hassle for Northumbria Police to deal with outside the stadium, officers eventually dispersing Newcastle fans without any serious developing.
At that Wolves game it was claimed many of those who congregated hadn’t even been at the game and were youths who lived locally and had come for mischief.
The Police believe it was the same at the Norwich game and so have put in place a ‘dispersal notice’ to deal with this anti-social behaviour outside St James Park before and after Newcastle’s match with Brentford on Saturday.
The dispersal order will be in place around St James Park and Leazes Park between 11am and 11pm this Saturday and it gives police the power, to ask people to leave the area if officers believe they are, or are likely to, cause harassment, alarm or distress.
Police will also be wearing body cameras to help them identify any troublemakers.
Newcastle Neighbourhood Sergeant Kelly Hetherington:
“There was some real issues with groups of youths gathering where the away supporters were leaving the ground from throwing eggs to being abusive to supporters, some of the behaviour really crossed the line and this will not be tolerated.
“Over the past few years our football neighbourhood policing team have been working closely with football clubs and partners to make a real effort to engage with young people and educate them about the consequences of causing trouble at a football match. This has had a really positive impact on behaviour.
“These groups of youths who are intent on causing trouble are in a small minority and we believe that they do not have tickets for the football and are not attending any games. They are local to the area and have come to the stadium with the sole purpose of getting involved in anti-social behaviour.
“This is not welcome at our football matches and for this weekend’s game we have a dispersal notice in place around the ground. That means anyone found hanging around with the intention of causing trouble will be quickly moved on and could face action being taken against them.
“People go to the football to enjoy it, not to be attacked or abused. Young people may think this has no consequences but they are committing public order offences that could severely affect their education, career and their future.”
Any supporters with information about those causing any trouble, are asked to contact the Football neighbourhood policing team, by calling police on 101.