Football and Robinson march force Met to call in 500 extra police
Today’s football fixtures in London have contributed to 500 police officers from outside the capital beefing up the Metropolitan Police presence.
Nine fixtures across the capital will take place today, including matches involving all seven Premier League teams.
Over 1,500 offers in total will police the football matches, as well as a number of demonstrations taking place in central London.
Arsenal take on Nottingham Forest in the early kick-off, at the same time as the Championship clash between Carlton and Millwall.
Crystal Palace host Sunderland, Leeds head to Fulham, Watford take on Blackburn, Wimbledon host Rotherham and Leyton Orient face Bolton on Saturday too.
There are two further Premier League London derbies today, too, with Tottenham Hotspur heading east to West Ham and Chelsea heading west to Brentford.
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A Tommy Robinson “Unite the Kingdom” march will take place around lunchtime, while a Stand Up To Racism counter protest will also go ahead today.
Commander Clair Haynes said that Saturday “will be a very busy day with protest, sporting fixtures, concerts and other events”, adding that she is “grateful to the many hundreds of Met officers who are being deployed away from their day to day roles and to the 500 or so officers from around the country who have responded to our request for support”.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed that the bulk of their efforts this weekend will be on the two protests in central London, while the football is not expected to cause as much disruption.
As of June this year, there had been an increase in the number of football banning orders compared to the year before.
The then policing minister Dame Diana Johnson said: “Police up and down the country work incredibly hard to ensure football stadiums are safe, so we can all enjoy our national game.”