HC Deb 20 July 1988 vol 137 c679W
36. Mr. Jim Marshall

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has as to(a) how many individual spectators paid to watch Football League matches in England in the 1987–88 season, (b) the average amount of time spectators take to pass into Football League grounds and (c) in how many such grounds in that season serious crowd trouble occurred.

Mr. Moynihan

The information available is as follows:

  1. (a) The total attendances at Football League matches during the 1987–88 season was 18,273,621.
  2. (b) There are no statistics available on the average length of time spectators take to pass into Football League grounds.
  3. (c) There were 19 matches at Football League grounds reported to the Football Association during the 1987–88 season at which incidents of crowd disorder took place which the Football Association considered were sufficiently serious to warrant investigation with the clubs concerned. In addition, the police report that the potential for violence was present at a significant number of matches because of the hostile atmosphere created by the provocative and aggressive behaviour of some sections of the crowd.