A 27-year-old man has become the first person in Britain to be charged with ‘tailgating’ after Sunday’s Carabao Cup final between Manchester City and Arsenal at Wembley.
According to the [Metropolitan Police](https://news.met.police.uk/news/met-police-charge-first-person-with-tailgating-507418), Benjamin Bailey of Oldham, Manchester will appear at Willesden Magistrates’ Court on May 1 after being charged with tailgating.
Two other men were reportedly arrested on suspicion of the same offence at Wembley and remain in custody.
There were no specific legal penalties for entering a football stadium without a ticket, which was an issue for the Football Association (FA) as offenders would only be ejected without further punishment.
[The FA actively engaged to make tailgating a criminal offence](https://footballtoday.com/2026/03/20/entering-football-stadium-without-ticket-becomes-criminal-offence-in-britain/) after the serious disorder that marred the 2021 European Championship final between England and Italy.
About 2,000 fans tried to enter the stadium without tickets, and an independent review found that a ticketless group of 6,000 people were preparing to storm the stadium had the Three Lions won.
A similar incident also happened during last year’s Carabao Cup final between Newcastle United and Liverpool, as supporters attempted to gain stadium entry without tickets.
The police arrested 68 offenders, but the arrests were made on suspicion of fraud. No charges were issued due to low conviction rates for tailgating.
Now the introduction of the new legislation means that offenders could be given a football ban for up to five years, as well as a fine of up to £1,000.