§ Mr. AtkinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, further to his reply of 8 May,Official Report, column 21, if he will make a statement on the meeting with representatives of the Football League and the Football Association.
§ Mr. WaddingtonOn 8 May I met at my request representatives of the Football Association and the Football League. I told the football authorities that it was unacceptable that they should ignore advice from a chief officer of police that a particular fixture ran a high risk of serious disorder. I indicated that it was their public duty to act on such advice. The Football League representatives accepted that they had been wrong to ignore the advice from the Dorset police on the Bournemouth v. Leeds United fixture on 5 May.
The Football League agreed to work out urgently with the Association of Chief Police Officers effective arrangements for obtaining police advice about the scheduling of fixtures and to act upon it on all occasions.