Spiralling police costs for Portsmouth and Southampton derby to be cut after soaring to £500,000
The south-coast rivals will meet at St Mary’s on Sunday, October 11
The spiralling cost of policing the south-coast derby is set to be cut - while fewer police will also be in attendance.
Although, according to Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones, this season’s two matches between Pompey and Southampton will still require a staggering £400,000 to police.
Southampton are to host John Mousinho’s side in the Championship on Sunday, October 11, with both fixtures having ended in draws in the 2025-26 campaign.
Last season, it cost £500,000 for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary to mount the police operation, divided into £250,000 per match.
However, Jones insists costs have been driven down this time around, with fewer Public Support Unit (PSU) staff required after the Football League listened to requests for the fixtures to be held in October 2026 and February 2027.
‘Lots of lessons were learnt from last year’
She told The News: ‘Last season the policing costs were £250,000 per game. I am now expecting that to be a bit less, maybe nearer £200,000 per game, but that’s still an awful lot of money.
‘That was previously £500,000 of public money - and I would rather be spending on more police officers and not on policing football matches.
‘What we are doing is front-loading the costs of policing to keep people safe. If we didn’t do it and things went wrong, I think the costs would be dramatically higher.
‘The good thing from my perspective is this season we are going to have fewer police officers on duty, which means it will be a little cheaper. Only slightly, not a lot cheaper, I hasten to add.
‘Lots of lessons were learnt from last year, but also there have been shared best practice from across the EFL and police forces working through the national police football unit.
‘The sterile areas are going to be managed by the clubs themselves, which is really good, and while the police presence won’t be quite as great. I cannot reiterate enough that these are very much the clubs’ games, it’s their event, and the police are there supporting.
‘The other thing is Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary last year asked the EFL for the games to be in October and February - and we actually had the first game in September (2025), which wasn’t particularly helpful for the police from a resourcing perspective.
‘June, July and August are the busiest months of the year, with many officers then taking annual leave in September. So for us to have one of those significant games last year in September really wasn't helpful.
‘That pushed the costs up slightly because we needed to bring in more mutual aid, such as the Public Support Unit (PSU). That meant we had to pay for them to be in hotels the night before because it’s an early start.
‘There has been a lot of learning and a lot of feedback which has gone in and the EFL have worked with Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, and listened to the fixture requests. The first game now being in October is helpful.
‘That means we can now majority police the game on October 11 with our own police officers, so we’ll bring in far fewer mutual aid police officers, which saves some money as well.’
The first south-coast derby for 13 years
September 2025 marked the first south-coast derby for 13 years when the sides met at St Mary’s for a goalless draw.
The Fratton Park encounter finished 1-1, after Ebou Adams equalised Leo Scienza’s opener in the January 2026 match.
This time around, the Championship season will resume following a three-week international break with the rivals meeting at St Mary’s on October 11 (12pm), with the return match scheduled for Sunday, February 28 (12pm).
And while Jones is budgeting for £400,000 to police both games, the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary are entitled to claim back just £35,000 from each club.
She added: ‘We can only re-charge around £35,000 back to the clubs because the legislation still hasn’t changed.
‘There is a will. The previous Conservative government said they were going to change legislation, the Labour government has indicated they are going to do the same, but it just hasn’t got its way up the order paper yet within Parliament.
‘We are still waiting for that, but it will make a massive difference. At the moment, we can only re-charge for the policing operation on their freehold area, so everything outside of it you can’t.
‘That means you cannot recharge for any policing in Frogmore Road.’