FA to use toughest possible sanctions for crowd disorder – chair Debbie Hewitt

Clubs could face partial or even full stadium closures as the Football Association’s chair Debbie Hewitt says the governing body is prepared to use the toughest possible sanctions to tackle crowd disorder.

A number of Premier League and EFL matches last season, particularly towards the end of the campaign, were marred by pitch invasions where players were assaulted.

The FA says there is alignment between the game’s authorities and the clubs that tough penalties are required to stamp out the problem.

European football’s governing body UEFA regularly imposes partial or full stadium closures on clubs whose fans are guilty of disorder, but fines have been the most common sanction in England to date.

No disciplinary charges have yet been brought against clubs involved in the end-of-season disturbances, but previously Birmingham were fined £42,500 by the FA when a spectator ran onto the pitch and assaulted Jack Grealish, then of Aston Villa, in a match in March 2019.

On the crowd trouble last season, Hewitt said: “It’s a worrying and ugly trend. The pitch is sacred and players, match officials and coaches have to be able to play in a safe environment.

“If you look at some of the footage that happens at the end of last season, it was disturbing and anything but safe for those players and indeed for some of those fans that invaded the pitch.

“It’s a huge concern and we are working in the FA to put in place the toughest possible sanctions that we can.

“I think the thing that pleased me when we started to have the debate, when we first saw this trend appearing (the assumption was) ‘oh the clubs won’t want (sanctions), the clubs will reject it’, and actually, anything but.

“I was at a session with all of the Premier League clubs a