Football Flares: Young Fans Are 'Used As Mules'
Premier League officials made the claim as a new campaign is launched warning fans of the dangers posed by setting off flares and smokebombs inside grounds.

It is an illegal continental football craze that has been catching on at English grounds all too quickly. Andthe authorities have had enough. This incident happened at Aston Villa’s home game against Tottenham at theend of October. An assistant referee struck on the neck by a flare. Those who use pyrotechnics at matchesoften describe them as harmless fun. No so, says one mother whose 8-year-old son was hit and burnt by a smokebomb before last season’s Merseyside derby at Anfield.
My husband took him to be treated by St. John’s ambulance and brought him to his seat, but he was too shaken to stay, he left before the game started.
The use of flares at games is commonplace in Europe, and it’s a growing trend in English football. In 2010-2011, there were 8 incidents in the hall of the top 4 divisions, the football conference and the domestic cup competitions. The following year, it rose to 72, last year it jumped farther to 172. And last season there were 71 arrests for possession of flares, a rise of 154%.
Fans were getting a bit fed up of it, fans were saying look, we thought this was a laugh first, but you know,it isn’t, we’re worried about it, we don’t want them near us, we certainly don’t wanna bring our kids to matches, and that’s a big concern, and people understand they don’t wanna bring their children to a match, they think there’s gonna be flares or smoke bombs going off near them, people are really affected by the smoke, people often just can’t see the game. And that gets really irritating for people.
Researchers found that children as young as 8 have been caught smuggling flares on behalf of adults.
Well, this new campaign has the backing of the premier league, the football league and the football association, and its message could not be any more simple—by all means, come and support your team, but if you even try to get any kind of pyrotechnic into a ground, you will be arrested.
Some clubs are already using specially trained dogs to catch the culprits before they get inside the ground,like here at Manchester United’s recent clash against arsenal. A trainer posing as a fan is picked out for an extra search because the dog has detected the scent of the firework.
Andy Brady, Sky News.