English town tells football fans to stay away

Chorley Council wants to stop coaches of away fans from visiting its town centre, because it says they have been "intimidating" residents and shoppers.

Chorley, situated close to Bolton, Blackburn, Preston, Burnley and Wigan, is often frequented by visiting away supporters on their way to games. 

A letter has been sent to clubs saying fans were "not welcome", despite spending money in the local Lancashire economy. 

 

August 15, 2018

Chorley councillor Danny Gee, who sent the letter on behalf of the council's Town Centre Team, told the 'BBC' it was not banning anyone and it was "powerless" because of a lack of police.

He added: "Fans are welcome, but we are not welcoming large amount of coaches with 100 and 200 fans, congregating outside pubs and disrupting the town centre.

"They stand outside pubs and intimidate shoppers and families. They arrive at 12pm and leave at 2.30pm - by that time most of the shoppers have left."

In a statement, the council added: "If the clubs themselves see fit to stop away fans entering some of their local pubs and don't sell alcohol in the ground why should that perceived problem be passed on to our town centre to deal with?

"As we stated in the letter we have done a lot of work and invested a lot of time and money into the town centre and we don't want Saturdays, which are one of the busiest days for traders, to be affected by people put off by football fans causing anti-social behaviour," he stated.