Unauthorised Entry to Football Matches Bill

Lord Moynihan Excerpts

Friday 16th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Brennan of Canton]

That the Bill do now pass.

[Lord Moynihan (Con)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Brennan, for successfully steering this Private Member’s Bill through the House. As we have discussed, following Second Reading I did not table amendments in Committee since the Bill had the support of the Commons, is an important step in its own right in addressing the issue of fans entering football grounds without permission, and needed to make progress to finalise its passage through another place in this Session.

However, during the passage of the Bill I sought to encourage the Government to address the abuse and corruption of modern-day touts in the criminal secondary football ticketing market, the inadequate funding for the CMA to bring prosecutions and the growing evidence of corrupt stewards, usually working with someone outside the grounds or on social media, providing a facsimile of a digital ticket to a purchaser for payment. On match days, the purchaser is made aware of what turnstile to go to with the facsimile and which member of staff to speak to in order to allow them illegal entry into the stadium with a master access card or override button on the turnstile.

This is a growing problem and I hope both cases will be considered by the Home Office and addressed in legislation, not least that on secondary ticketing which will hopefully come before the House in the next Session. In the meantime, I wish the noble Lord well and thank him for all his work on this Bill, in the hope that, by avoiding any further protracted debates, the Bill may reach the statute book in this Session.

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Brennan of Canton, should be very proud; I do not think there can be many people who have introduced the same Bill in consecutive Sessions, in two different Parliaments and two different Houses, with support from two different Governments. We thank him very much for his part in ushering these provisions on to the statute book.

The provisions flow from the review led by the noble Baroness, Lady Casey of Blackstock, commissioned by the Football Association, into the events at the Euros final at Wembley in 2021 and the sensible recommendations of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, of which I think the noble Lord was a member in another place in the last Parliament. The previous Government supported these provisions before the general election and these Benches are happy to reiterate our support today. I am glad that extends to my noble friend Lord Moynihan, who was the author of the parent Act that the noble Lord’s Bill will amend.

As noble Lords who have followed our other debates on football know, this is an area of public policy that usually passes me by. I have only ever been to one football match in my life, authorised or otherwise, and I cannot remember who won it, but I am looking forward this evening to seeing a play, “Gerry & Sewell”, which follows the adventures of two likely lads from Gateshead trying to obtain season tickets to see Newcastle United. It began in an arts space above a fried chicken shop in Whitley Bay and is playing the West End for the next two weeks. So, football touches the hearts of us all. We are very grateful to the noble Lord for his Bill and wish it a speedy passage on to the statute book.