Entering a football match without a ticket will become a criminal offence across England and Wales from this weekend.
It comes ahead of Sunday’s Carabao Cup final between Arsenal and Manchester City at Wembley.
The new legislation follows a review by Baroness Louise Casey, which highlighted that lives were put at risk when thousands of ticketless fans stormed Wembley during the Euro 2020 final.
Offenders now face a five-year football banning order and a fine of up to £1,000.
Baroness Casey’s findings had criticised weak sanctions for stadium breaches and called for tailgating to be criminalised.
Policing minister Sarah Jones told the Press Association: “This is a new piece of legislation and, of course, the police are planning on how to implement it.”
It gives officers “more armoury” to “deter and then respond to people who are disrespecting paying fans by trying to get in without paying themselves”.
She added: “This is something that I don’t think any party could oppose – it cannot be right that some people pay and some people don’t and that people are put at risk, in danger, when people are tailgating.
“So we need there to be an appropriate response and a £1,000 fine or five-year football banning order I think will be a great deterrent.”
Tailgating is when fans get through stadium turnstiles by walking closely behind ticket holders.
There was previously no specific legal penalties for attending a football game without a ticket.
The Unauthorised Entry to Football Matches Act will also make it illegal to knowingly try to enter a match with forged tickets, passes and accreditation documents, as well as by pretending to be a member of stadium or playing staff.
It follows an independent review of the European Championship final held at Wembley in north London on July 11 2021.
Baroness Casey identified more than 20 “near misses” that could have resulted in serious injury or death as a result of ticketless individuals trying to gain entry, and in some cases succeeding, for the England’s match with Italy.
Around 100,000 people travelled to Wembley for the final “of which approximately 2,000 gained entry to the stadium without tickets”, with 17 mass breaches of the gates in the 90 minutes before kick-off until the penalty shootout.
The new laws also come after problems encountered by Liverpool supporters during their Champions League final against Real Madrid in Paris in 2022.
In that instance, authorities were found to be at fault for major problems around the Stade de France despite their attempts to pin the blame on Liverpool supporters.
Several fans were denied entry despite having legitimate tickets for the match, while police also used pepper spray and tear gas.
Manchester City will play Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday at 4.30pm.
