Think the suggestion of ID cards for away fans is just a Millwall FC issue.. think again! 

I’m aware of an article on the Sun Online about Millwall FC fans being required to have the equivalent of Away Fan ID cards. The EFL have used the pitch invasion of some fans at the end of the play off at Wembley as a reason for requiring the fans to provide ID to purchase away tickets but in truth this is just an excuse and a slippery slope for all football fans who travel away.

In the 1980s and early 1990s the Government wanted to introduce ID cards for football fans and even drew up legislation which was debated in Parliament. The ID card scheme was never approved, partly because the question of how to allow alcohol to be served in corporate boxes while preventing fans in the stands from drinking alcohol then took priority and used up all the time set aside for the ID card discussions.  But, don’t for one minute think that the ID card idea has gone away.

A few years ago at the Brighton V Crystal Palace match, in which Crystal Palace secured a place in the Premier League, the Met Police sent out a message that everyone travelling to Brighton would be stop checked and would have to provide ID to show they were the fan named on their ticket. This plan fell apart as Crystal Palace didn’t print the fans names on the tickets, and Sussex Police refused to get involved in the scheme. But this is just one example of the fact ID for away fans has been bubbling under the surface for years.

If the EFL are successful in forcing Millwall FC to introduce away fan ID, this will be the start of the slippery slope. The next club which has a pitch invasion or some kind of fan issue will find itself in the same position as Millwall FC but then there will be the added justification ‘well it’s already been introduced at Millwall FC so why should you be treated differently’.

My phone has been red hot all morning with football fans moaning about the possibility of ID cards. I’ve got your back, I don’t agree with it, but on my own I can’t do anything about it. Grass roots campaigns can be hugely effective, and if the ID card idea is to be stopped it will need a well organised grassroots campaign from all fans who travel to away games, not just Millwall FC fans.  This affects any fan who travels to away games as it is campaigning against future restrictions which, if you don’t try and stop it now, will happen.

Bitching on social media, setting off smoke bombs outside the EFL offices and blaming the football clubs will not work.  Football fans have such a varied background (project managers, company directors, accountants, lawyers, journalists, lobbyists, campaigners, research students.. etc etc) this could be a grassroots campaign like no other but it requires football fans putting in the work. I’m happy to assist and coordinate, but I can’t do this without your help. 

Either stand up to the EFL now or get ready to hand over an ID card every time you travel away within the next 5 years.