Football fans kicked out of Regent's Park hit back

Published: 11 March 2010
by JAMIE WELHAM and SHARMAARKE ALI

FOOTBALL fans who were looking forward to watching this summer’s World Cup on big screens in Regent’s Park were unfairly “vilified as hooligans from the 1980s” during a campaign that finally led to the proposals being scrapped.

As the New Journal revealed last week, the Greater London Author­ity has abandoned the idea of beaming all of the action from South Africa to a “Fifa fan zone” in the park and have withdrawn a lic­ensing application. Around 20,000 supporters were expected in the park but residents living close by, London Zoo and the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre complained that rowdy fans would cause disruption. Now soccer fans, particularly families who won’t be able to squeeze into pubs to see the games, say they are sick as ­parrots at missing out.

Mark Perryman, chairman of the London England Fans Supporters Group and author of Ingerland: Travels with a Football Nation, called the decision short­sighted.

“It’s a great pity that it isn’t going ahead,” he said. “Football supporters aren’t louts, and in this case, I think they got it wrong because those minority of football fans, who want to get drunk, will cause more of a problem in Camden Town. In other cities when they have these events, it’s a chance to bring people together, and trouble is rare. What I think you would have seen was lots of families, which means on the whole people would drink less.”

Under Fifa plans, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Circus Maximus in Rome, Copacabana Beach in Rio and Darling Harbour in Sydney will all be holding events similar to those that were planned for Regent’s Park. 

Regent’s Park ward councillor Theo Blackwell said he was disappointed that a “compromise” could not have been agreed.

“In this campaign against the fan zone, football supporters have been unfairly vilified like they are throwbacks to the hooliganism of the 1980s – we have moved on from that,” he said. “As a group, we have always felt that the park should be a resource for the many, for people ­living nearby and further field as well.” 

And footballers playing in Regent’s Park on Tuesday agreed. Fergus Morgan, from Highgate, said: “The fan zone would be a great idea. It’s really sad that a group of people can just ruin it for everybody else.”

Sid Piccou, who lives in the Regent’s Park estate, said: “Big events have taken place before at the park and there’s never been any trouble. People would be focused on the football. Loutish behaviour can happen anywhere and who’s to say these people can predict what is going to happen?”

Matthew Fulton, from St John’s Wood, said: “A lot of people would enjoy watching the games, just because these people are rich and influential shouldn’t mean they can run everything.”

One of the main opponents of the plans, the Friends of Regent’s Park group, which boasts more than 1,000 members, has met the criticism head on, insisting they are not against football.

Friends chairman Malcolm Kafetz said: “We shouldn’t have to apologise for objecting. We are not, nor have we ever been anti-football in Regent’s Park. This was always about the size and scale of event. It would have been monstrous for London Zoo, it would have destroyed the theatre and would have called endless problems for residents. It’s not an overstatement to say the zoo and theatre would have grounds to sue.”