National ID cards proposed for football fans
“Law abiding citizens will have to register merely to go to matches. Supporters ejected from grounds, for whatever reason, or arrested but not convicted, will face a loss of their identity card and thus the right to attend football. Police files and blacklist information too will be used to determine who does and who does not have the right to attend football.
“I again emphasise that the prime, irrefutable objection to the soccer card scheme that the Government propose is that it legislates against a section of the British people by obliging them to carry identity cards or to forfeit the right to follow the sport of their choice.”
Lord Graham of Edmonton, during a debate in the House of Lords.
Can you imagine needing a government ID card just to go to the match? This was part of proposed plans in the 1980s to tackle concerns around football hooliganism.
The government proposed a compulsory national membership scheme for all 92 Football League clubs. Fans would be forced to register with their club and apply for a photographic ID card to gain entry to home and away matches. The Football Association, Police Federation, football fans and politicians from both sides of the House massively criticised the proposals as draconian and an infringement on civil liberties.
The proposed bill fell down following the publication of the Taylor Inquiry after the Hillsborough tragedy of April 1989. Many people felt that such a scheme would not have helped prevent disasters such as that at Hillsborough, which was not caused by hooliganism. Critics added that the membership cards could have made matters worse by slowing down the process of getting supporters in and out of the ground.