The impacts of legislation and policing on football crowd violence: A longitudinal cross national comparative study [Ref 1.47]

The project uses a comparative, multi‑method design in the UK and Switzerland to examine how policing practices, fan behaviour, and legal frameworks interact in domestic football settings. Ethnography forms the core of the approach, enabling direct observation of police, fans, and other stakeholders, while interviews, vignettes, and normative analysis help test emerging theories about legitimacy, law, and fan culture. Practitioners are embedded throughout the research, allowing real‑time evaluation of how policing strategies and legislation shape conflict dynamics.

Running through four interconnected work packages, the project explores policing (WP1), fan perspectives (WP2), and legal aspects (WP3), alongside coordinated management and dissemination activities (WP4). A key feature is international exchange, providing opportunities for Swiss and British police forces to observe practices in each other’s contexts, ultimately supporting evidence‑led approaches to football policing across Europe.