In the Shadow of the Stadium: Football Grounds as Urban Nuisances

The football industry has attracted much concern in recent years but few studies have explored the impact of football matches on the neighbourhoods around football grounds. A survey of residents around 37 Football League grounds showed that a smaller proportion of such residents viewed football matches as a nuisance than the general public per se. Hooliganism was perceived by fewer local residents as a nuisance than car parking and traffic congestion. Variations in the perception of football nuisances are often, but not invariably, related to distance from the ground while negative spillovers from football matches seem to be more prevalent in the south than the north of England. In some cases, passive acceptance of nuisance can be converted into activism. An awareness of attitudes to the sport and its nuisance effects will have to be taken into account should the relocation of British football occur in years to come.