Manchester Police chief says force is ‘fearful’ fans will turn up outside behind closed doors games

The Premier League discovered the size of the task persuading police to allow football to restart at all 20 stadiums on Wednesday, as Greater Manchester’s chief constable said he was against a return and identified Manchester City vs Liverpool as a risky fixture.

GMP chief Ian Hopkins said the force was ‘fearful’ that fans would turn up at games, whether they were staged at neutral or home grounds, and that if necessary the force could take legal action to prevent that.

Hopkins said: ‘What we are fearful of is that people will turn up either at neutral grounds or at home grounds and that could be particularly problematic. 

Manchester City vs Liverpool has been identified as a high-risk fixture by Greater Manchester Police, who are worried about fans congregating outside empty stadiums

GMP chief Ian Hopkins is ‘fearful’ fans would turn up at the behind closed doors matches

‘There are some quite tricky fixtures potentially. Liverpool coming to Man City I have no doubt would attract crowds whether they are allowed in the ground or not. It needs very, very careful thinking through.’

Liverpool’s trip to the Etihad is scheduled to be the third last of City’s season.

Hopkins’ concerns were echoed by Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who also said that it would wrong to consider a return to playing at a time when players like City’s Raheem Sterling were voicing fears.

Sterling has said some members from his family have died from the coronavirus and that he is ‘reserved’ about plans to restart the Premier League.

At his weekly press conference, conducted by video, Burnham said: ‘The best way to approach it is to listen to the people who would be most affected by the re-start, and that’s the players, the managers and the officials.

GMP chief constable Ian Hopkins has stated his objections to the Premier League’s return

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said it would be wrong to return with players expressing their fears amid the Covid-19 pandemic 

‘People will have been struck by Raheem Sterling in the last 24 hours, saying he doesn’t feel particularly safe, having lost people who are particularly close to him. 

‘Pep lost his mum. You have to take on board the concerns of the players. Their views should be taken as priority when it comes to any restart.

‘The issues that the chief constable spoke about add [to the case] against any early restart.’

Many senior officers still feel that neutral venues are preferable to the season concluding with conventional home and away matches, because the risk of fans gathering in large numbers. But police want to be open-minded and constructed. 

Police forces up and down the country face challenges if football resumes in the coming weeks

They are willing to view proposals for a 20-ground conclusion and to ‘have the conversation’, in the words of one senior officer.

There is some frustration among senior officers about the lack of concrete proposals put before them by the Premier League. 

For all the talk about the 92 games being concluded at 10 neutral venues – the cause of civil war among the Premier League clubs last week – police have never seen proposals identifying which stadiums the league was proposing.

Different forces may have different views based on the remaining cases of coronavirus in their areas. Burnham is against an end to the ‘Stay at Home message’ because cases in the North West remain relatively high.

Hopkins said: ‘We’ve all got to get to a position where it can be done safely without jeopardising people’s health. That has to be the starting point for me.’