Edge Hill students had a taste of the challenge of policing a Premier League football match with an access-all-areas visit to Liverpool Football Club.A 12-strong group of Professional Policing undergraduates from the University visited Anfield for Liverpool’s match with Crystal Palace.

And they saw close up how Merseyside Police and club safety staff work hand in hand to manage the 60,000 supporters that fill the stands at Liverpool home games.

The students debated the development of football-related disorder and developments in public safety with University policing lecturers and Chris Markey, Liverpool FC’s Director of Safety and Security, who worked for Merseyside Police for 30 years. They also sat in on the police briefing before the game, visited Anfield’s control room, police office and cells and were given a tour of the ground.

Anfield safety staff also briefed the students on operations that surround the team coach's arrival and supporters’ arrival and departure from the ground.

Owen West, senior lecturer in Policing and a former Chief Superintendent of West Yorkshire Police who specialised in policing crowds, said: “Our Professional Policing students tell us that experiencing real-world policing situations and being able to speak directly to those dealing with the daily challenges of the job is a real inspiration.

“As part of the degree course at Edge Hill, we work hard to offer students a varied range of guest speakers, practical workshops and relevant field trips to give them meaningful insight into the working world of policing, criminal justice, probation and prisons.

“The trip to Anfield offered real understanding of the complexities of managing big crowds in a passionate environment where a range of challenges can often arise simultaneously.

“It was particularly poignant given the visit was so close to the 35th anniversary of the Hillsborough Disaster and supporters were paying their respects on the day. We are helping to train a new generation of police officers to learn from the mistakes of the past.”