"Say 'No' To ID Cards"

Football's changing relationship with government

In a week when the government launched its White Paper on the regulation of football, it’s worth reflecting on how times have changed.

Episode 16 of my fanzine ‘Off The Ball’ (published in Autumn 1988) carried the petition against plans to force every supporter to carry an ID card to enter a football ground.

We said at the time that it would have ‘little impact on the problem of football related violence…and lead to the eventual demise of the game as a spectator sport.”

In that era, ministers viewed football entirely through the prism of law and order. They were seemingly indifferent to fan culture and the wider importance of the game to the communities it served.

Sadly, it took the deaths of 97 fans at Hillsborough to force them to drop the ID scheme.

The White Paper is a long way from perfect but its presence reflects a decisive and hopefully permanent change in how the national sport - and the people who follow it -are regarded by politicians.