Quote ="Leyther_Matt"Think there's a bit of an antiquated view of football fans on here. The vast majority of the games pass off peacefully and, although there is granted a large police presence for a lot of games, there is very little policing for twice as many games. Going to a game at Fulham, in RL terms, would be like going to a Batley game - welcoming club, knowledgeable home supporters and virtually free reign to roam about the ground. Going to Chelsea on the final day of last season when they were going for the title had the potential for a bit of mither but the fans mixed freely near Fulham Broadway and drank in the same pubs with hardly any police knocking about.
Of course, I'm speaking only from my experience of watching Bolton, and maybe it's different for those who watch Utd, Liverpool etc, but I think the problem that RL clubs face from football fans are the ones who sit in the pub watching Sky, rather than the ones who actually make the effort to support their football team.'"
The point is many top Premiership games have to be controlled with heavy police presence, CCTV etc. This is what keeps the peace. Certain games may require much lower levels of surveillance, as you suggest.
It wasn't so long ago that two Leeds fans were murdered, Arsenal fans stabbed, Man U and Liverpool fans attacked in Italy. There had to be riot police deployed outside Old Trafford a couple of years ago, because of retaliatory threats against Milan supporters. It didn't stop violence breaking out.
The fans that watch Prem football in their locals are generally the ones who, when they do come to an RL game, behave like idiots. This is why we're better off not trying to appeal to them and find new support from elsewhere.
