At least 10 football supporters including a 70-year-old woman had to raise tops for security searches, a fans’ group says

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Female football fans were left “shocked and stunned” when they were made to show their bras during security searches at Stevenage football club, a supporters’ group has said.

At least 10 Grimsby Town supporters had their bras checked by stewards before the League Two sides met on Saturday, according to the Mariners Trust.

Leicester condemn fans for homophobic chanting in Brighton game Read more

A 70-year-old woman was among those left “mortified” by the searches outside Stevenage FC’s Lamex Stadium, the Guardian understands.

The English Football League said on Monday it was looking into the allegations. A spokesman for Stevenage FC said it was conducting an investigation.

In a letter sent by the Mariners Trust to Stevenage FC, the Grimsby Town fan group said female supporters were asked to lift up their tops to show their bras to female stewards in view of other supporters, including men and male stewards.

The group said the “gross invasion of privacy” went further when some female stewards asked to feel supporters’ bras if they confirmed that they were underwired. “This act would effectively constitute a sexual assault and these types of searches are unlawful,” the group said in its letter.

A spokesman for Hertfordshire police, which polices the Lamex Stadium, said it was looking into the allegations.

Paul Savage, the vice-chair of the Mariners Trust, was at the game on Saturday. He said fans were left “shocked and stunned” by the experience.

He said: “The police were actually in view of what happened. They were stood within 15 yards so if they didn’t see it I would be shocked.

“We are aware of at least 10 people who were asked to show their bras and all of them were shocked and stunned. It’s the horror of being asked to do something that bad, they went in and said to their friends and partners: ‘What just happened?’”

Savage said 10 supporters had contacted the Mariners Trust directly to say they were subjected to the searches, but more may have complained directly to Stevenage FC or Hertfordshire police.

He added: “What we can’t understand as football supporters is why Stevenage football club have told their stewards to do this. It’s not a policing issue, it’s a football club issue – they’ve told their stewards to check people’s bras and we can only assume they’ve been given some intelligence to do that. You don’t have it at airports, so why would you have it at a football club?

“Football fans get a bad press. There was no trouble, there were no arrests, nobody was chucked out of the ground. There was just a lot of bewildered and bemused and upset people.

“It wasn’t really until the game had finished and we all left when we thought ‘what on earth has just happened?’ and it all started to sink in.”

The Mariners Trust letter also claims Stevenage FC stewards carried out full-body searches on children as young as five, leaving at least one minor “visibly upset”, and confiscated safe objects including hand sanitiser from fans.

The group also complained that a female steward was posted inside the away fans’ men’s toilets throughout the game, which they said raised “significant safeguarding issues” regarding young children using the facilities.

In a statement, Stevenage FC’s safety officer, Steve Reed, said the stewarding on Saturday was “not typical” because they believed high-risk groups would be attending with the potential for antisocial behaviour.

Reed said the club implemented a “100% compliant” search regime due to a belief that prohibited items may be smuggled into the stadium by women and younger supporters.

He added: “Stewards used for this role in the away section of the stadium were provided by a reputable agency and are qualified to act as such. Searches conducted are recorded on CCTV and on this occasion, were in the presence of deployed police officers.

“No incidents were recorded on the day of any inappropriate behaviour towards female supporters or young spectators. Had such incidents been either reported or flagged up, the issues would have been dealt with immediately.

“The club takes these allegations seriously and will both study the CCTV footage and speak to the relevant parties to ensure that no infringements of accepted procedures took place.”