Police concern at new football kick-offs

Senior police officers have expressed concern at the introduction of Saturday evening kick-offs as the Scottish football season got under way.

The Association of Scottish Police Superintendents said the demands of TV companies appeared to have overshadowed community safety concerns and vowed to monitor the situation closely.

This season, live football matches will kick off at 5.35pm on Saturdays, replacing last season's Sunday evening kick-offs.

The ASPS said it would be considering whether to call for football matches to be licensed in the same way as other mass public meetings, giving local authorities a say in when games should be played.

Chief Superintendent Allan Shanks, president of the association, warned the move could lead to an increase in city centre violence on Saturday evenings.

He said: "Saturday evenings are already busy and we think that having games on Saturday night could have implications on the police and the community.

"Supporters will have longer to consume alcohol before the kick-off and when they come out of the ground at about 7.30pm there is the potential for them to frequent already busy pubs and clubs.

"The majority of football fans are well-behaved, but we are going to monitor the situation over the coming season to see what the impact is."

A spokesman for the Bank of Scotland Scottish Premier League said: "We have extremely good relations with the police authorities throughout the country and liaise closely with them on matters of safety and security.

"We have an ongoing dialogue with the police authorities and should there be any contact from the ASPS it will be dealt with in the appropriate way."