For football supporters attending games, there’s a sense of unknown trust in football clubs in ensuring that everything from ticket sales to food hygiene runs smoothly. But are the stewards in charge of your safety trained to deal with any situation that arises?
An investigation into the training of football stewards has revealed that 13 of the 20 Premier League clubs may be giving inadequate training to their stewards.
Current and former stewards of all 20 Premier League clubs were spoken to, and for 13 of these clubs, a majority of those believe that they were not trained to an adequate standard.
As stated by The FA, all stewards must have or be working towards an Level 2 NVQ in supporter safety, however stewards still feel they are not trained to deal with pitch incursions, invasions and supporter behaviour.
One former steward, who wishes to remain anonymous, even claimed they had no training whatsoever and all they were told to do was “to stand up if a goal was scored.”
I don’t believe I was properly trained. All we were told was to stand up if a goal was scored and always be alert of something like that was to happen. But I felt we should’ve been given physical contact training to prevent invasions from happening.
The news comes to light in a season where football stewards have been heavily criticised due to supporters managing to gain access to the pitch with ease.
In March, Birmingham City fan Paul Mitchell walked onto the pitch and punched Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish and was sentenced to 14 weeks in prison.
In the same game, a steward was sacked after videos circulated of him hitting Jack Grealish during celebrations after the Villa man scored the winning goal.
Birmingham City fan Paul Mitchell has pleaded guilty to assaulting Aston Villa midfielder Jack Grealish during yesterday’s derby
— Sky News Breaking (@SkyNewsBreak) March 11, 2019
Is it just me or did this steward just boot Grealish? Anyone else see that? #BCFCvAVFC pic.twitter.com/D7o55utPrk
— SuperHoops (@Super_H00ps) March 10, 2019
Amanda Jacks, a caseworker for The Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF), is not surprised by the claims and they “confirm suspicions I’ve long held about the quality of training”.
She added: “Many clubs now outsource their stewarding function and while the richer clubs can afford to go to reputable companies, many more are likely reliant on smaller, local companies where arguably the calibre of staff may not be as high.
“Together with training, another concern I have is that many stewards are effectively door men and they may not have the knowledge and understanding of football crowds and their behaviour.
“When clubs have to fulfill an obligation to have a certain number of stewards there is certainly a discussion that should be held around the fact that quantity doesn’t always equate to quality.
“As police are increasingly pulling out of deployment inside stadiums, it is incumbent on all clubs to ensure that their stewards are trained to a high quality for reasons of both customer service and safety.”
Another former steward, who also wishes to remain anonymous, spent over a year as a steward at one of the top Premier League clubs, and claims they were also given no training before being put on a shift at a Premier League game.
They said, “There was no training at all. I gained my knowledge to work as a steward from others on the job.
“I didn’t have any specific training, in fact I learned most of the procedures from other members of staff and ongoing experience rather than any training.”
A survey of 157 respondents from football supporters has also found that a shocking 81% feel like football supporters are discriminated against just for being fans, whereas 53% do not trust stewards to successfully perform their duties at a match.
However, some stewards have praised the training they received as a new recruit, before they were put on to football games.
“In terms of training before any new recruit starts working he has to attend an induction where he gets informed of the operation on a match, as well as being shown around the ground and what to do in case of emergencies.” One steward said.
Another steward said they were paired up with a skilled worker for the first few weeks before they felt confident enough to perform their duties unaided.
The Football Safety Officers Association have been contacted for a response, but as of yet there has been no reply.
In a statement following the assault on Jack Grealish, the FSOA “strongly condemned the mindless actions of the individual responsible”.
They also emphasised that: “it is not the fault of stewards or police if a spectator decides on the spur of the moment to act in this manner.”
Jordan Marley 