Fears of a kick off in Regent's Park World Cup ‘fan zone’

Published: 28 January 2010
by JAMIE WELHAM

GET ready for talk of metatarsals, England’s plan B and missed penalties – World Cup fever is coming to Regent’s Park.
An application has been submitted to Camden Council’s licensing department to make the Royal Park one of seven “Fan Zones” during the month-long tournament this summer.
It will feature a giant screen, grandstand, hospitality area, samba ­soccer school and space for 20,000 supporters.
But there was a warning yesterday (Wednesday) that “football fans are not cricket fans” and predictions of trouble.
Camden residents and schoolchildren will be given priority to tickets for the screenings, which will take place every day and will include live music performances before and after matches.
The fan zone will be erected in Gloucester Green in the north-eastern corner of the park and will kick off when host nation South Africa play Mexico on June 11.
The Greater London Authority (GLA), which submitted the application, stressed it would be a “family friendly environment”, and while alcohol would be available, there would be a limit on the number of drinks each ticket holder can buy.
Despite their assurances, which are backed up in the smallprint with commitments on policing and security, not everybody is so enthusiastic about the prospect of welcoming thousands of football supporters to the park on a daily basis. They fear it will be overwhelmed by the scale of the event and that drunken fans will bring a plague of anti-social behaviour to the area, especially following evening games which aren’t scheduled to finish until after 10pm.
Macolm Kafetz, chairman of the Friends of Regent’s Park group, said: “We are going to have a load of drunken louts roaming around the park.
“Personally I don’t think Regent’s Park is the right place for this sort of thing.
“Football fans are not like cricket fans.”
In August last year, the park hosted a smaller scale event for around 5,000 cricket fans during the last test match in the Ashes series.
The football World Cup application will be heard by Camden’s licensing committee in March.
Mr Kafetz added: “Football fans are not exactly known for their politeness.
“We are going to have people piddling everywhere. Quite frankly I think it is unbelievable.
“Also we have one highly inadequate Tube station, and a couple of buses. I don’t think they will cope with 20,000 people every day for a month.
“We will be discussing it democratically with our 1,000 members and making a representation.”
The GLA application said: “The 2010 World Cup Festival will offer family friendly entertainment cultural experiences from competing countries, community-based and interactive activities and the opportunity to watch live screening of the tournament.”
Other fan zones across the world this summer will include the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Circus Maximus in Rome, Copacabana Beach in Rio and Darling Harbour in Sydney.