My father in law is retired from the Met Police. Used to escort the England Rugby team coach to HQ or worked that patch on match days. Met officers grabbed up O/T for rugby as virtually no incidents beyond assisting someone a little worse for wear, and thoroughly enjoyed interacting with rugby crowds. More often than not posing for photos of kids, supporters etc sitting on his police motorbike. There was so little trouble that sometimes during the game if he was outside the stadium he would go home to their house in Hampton for a brew.
Policing for football games is a different beast, normally leave being cancelled to ensure enough officers deployed to deal with the aggression, vandalism, assaults, multiple criminal activity that surrounds the sport.
When I was a kid we went to Wimbledon as well as Wasps as my family enjoyed both sports. As I got older I became aware of the wider problems surrounding football. I stopped going after my parents car got keyed and went to a game where even my mother and father had my sister and I remain right next to them, and got out of the area as quickly as possible before it all kicked off. Yet a Wasps games we all played with other kids before and after the game, and you rarely saw mum at half time because she had gone to grab some food and chat to people we knew.
Football supporters seem to excuse their behaviours because it is tribal and passionate. In fact it is intimidatory, violent and hostile. Us rugby are as passionate as they come. But I would stop going if they stopped fans all sitting together, sharing a beer and our time...whilst supporting our own teams with all we have. Some of my greatest memories are being with friends and ending up in a pub/bar late at night having a few beers and singing together (Although the Ireland lot we got to know at a previous 6 nations knew how to drink and sing to a level we struggled to stay with).
One comparison between our sports made me laugh. Football fans are likely to end up in prison, rugby fans are likely the ones that would put them there.
![Grin ;D](http://onceawasp.com/Smileys/default/grin.gif)