Police chief addresses future of controversial 'bubble' buses for Portsmouth and Southampton derbies
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary believe it will total £400,000 to police south-coast derbies this season
Hampshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner is adamant ‘bubble’ transport remains the best way to ensure supporter safety at south-coast derbies.
Although Donna Jones admitted she would welcome potentially scrapping the controversial managed travel approach ‘in the future’.
Southampton and Pompey have once again made the decision for ‘bubble’ buses to be employed for taking visiting supporters to matches between the clubs, starting on Sunday, October 11.
Backed by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, it will see a continuation of the unpopular approach rolled out for last season’s south-coast derby return after a 13-year absence.
And while Jones concedes the system is ‘not ideal’ for football fans, she insists it has so far proven ‘hugely successful’.
‘It really is the best way to keep people safe’
The Police and Crime Commissioner told The News: ‘The 2025-26 fixtures in Southampton and Portsmouth were a very significant policing operation and hugely successful.
‘From a policing perspective, there were a minimal number of arrests, minimal trouble, with thousands and thousands of people able to attend both games and enjoy it, including lots of families and kids.
‘I would love for us to be in a position in the future - if the two clubs remain in the same league - that we won’t need buses. For the fans to have a much more normal experience, we need to make sure we are balancing that with the threat risk assessment.
‘I appreciate for Pompey fans it means being picked up early on a Sunday morning in pre-determined locations, travelling on those buses, with the day much longer for them. It’s not ideal from a fan’s perspective, but it really is the best way to keep people safe.
‘The police have had to do a security risk assessment of what they think might happen, based on intelligence which comes into the police force and based on the history between the two clubs.
‘There’s a whole load of other bits of information which the police intel unit feeds into the football unit to be able to work out the best way to keep the game - and everyone attending - safe.
‘At the moment, the risk is at a point where between these two clubs it still needs that level of intervention. Ultimately, the game and the security arrangements are down to the club themselves and the police are supporting and advising.
‘Before last season, the previous time the two clubs met was in 2019 and it wasn’t a happy experience at Fratton Park. There were a number of arrests, a number of serious injuries, there was large-scale public disorder on the streets in Portsmouth in very close proximity to the club.
‘What we don’t want - and what we can’t have - is that happening again. I don’t want any parent to be concerned about taking their child to a match just because of who they are playing.
‘What we do know is the vast, vast majority of fans going to these games are law-abiding people who want to watch football.’
Pompey have been allocated 2,500 tickets for the October 11 fixture (12pm), with all away supporters required to use club-managed travel to get to and from St Mary’s.
All supporters are to be searched at the pick-up location prior to boarding the coaches, with each coach having a member of club staff on board.
‘The football club have decided on the managed travel approach’
Jones added: ‘The key thing for me to reiterate is that this is very much owned by Southampton football club, it is their event, it’s for them to make sure that the people coming to the game - and leaving - are safe.
‘With the coaches, it’s called a managed travel approach within football, which is very much the decision of the football club. Clearly the police give advice to the club, but the football club have decided that the managed travel approach is what they want to adapt.
‘As a consequence of that, there are a whole load of things they must do around the stadium - such as security, fencing and the personnel they have working for them - to make sure coaches can arrive and leave safely on the day.
‘And they will clearly have that police escort taking them to Southampton and obviously then the opposite direction.’