{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/unauthorised-entry-to-football-matches-act-2026/section-1",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/unauthorised-entry-to-football-matches-act-2026/section-1.json",
  "legislation": "ukpga/2026/1",
  "legislation_title": "Unauthorised Entry to Football Matches Act 2026",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/unauthorised-entry-to-football-matches-act-2026",
  "path": "section/1",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "1",
  "heading": "Offence of unauthorised entry to designated football matches",
  "text": "In the Football (Offences) Act 1991, after section 1 (designated football matches) insert—\n“Unauthorised entry\n1A (1) A person (“P”) commits an offence if—\n(a) P enters, or attempts to enter, premises for the purpose of attending a designated football match, and\n(b) at the time of entry or attempted entry, P does not have a match ticket for the match that P is eligible to use.\n(2) It is a defence to prove that P had lawful authority or lawful excuse for entering, or attempting to enter, the premises.\n(3) It is a defence to prove that—\n(a) P entered, or attempted to enter, the premises through an entry point normally used by spectators,\n(b) at the time of entry or attempted entry, P had something that they reasonably believed was a match ticket for the match, and\n(c) the thing that P had—\n(i) was not a match ticket for the match, or\n(ii) was a match ticket for the match but P was not eligible to use it.\n(4) In this section—\n“match ticket” means a ticket or other thing (whether in physical or electronic form) which authorises a person to enter premises for the purpose of attending a designated football match;\n“premises” includes any place.”",
  "extent": "E+W",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "I",
      "label": "I1",
      "text": "S. 1 not in force at Royal Assent, see s. 2(2)"
    },
    {
      "type": "I",
      "label": "I2",
      "text": "S. 1 in force at 22.3.2026 by S.I. 2026/288, reg. 2"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2026/1/section/1",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T08:44:32.036522+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}