Ireland police to have 350 specialists for England clash

England are due to take on Ireland in the Nations League on Saturday

Ireland will have large numbers of police in Dublin for England’s match against Ireland (Action Images via Reuters)

England take on Ireland in the Nations League on Saturday evening, and the Irish police have cancelled all leave in Dublin this weekend.

The Times reports there are 350 specialist officers scheduled to be on duty, with a team from the UK Football Policing United (UKFPU) also deployed to Dublin.

They will work with the Gardai forces, who are experienced in dealing with overseas visitors to Dublin.

Extra measures are expected to be taken, including additional operations from Friday until Sunday morning for the game which kicks off on Saturday at 5pm BST.

England have only been awarded just under 3,000 tickets for the match at the Aviva Stadium, but many are expected to travel without tickets to Dublin.

There were concerns over the behaviour of England fans ahead of Euro 2024, and in particular before the game against Serbia, where there were a few incidents in the centre of town.

However, the rest of the tournament the fans were relatively peaceful, with few incidents involving England fans during their month in Germany, with only 77 English fans arrested.

Although more than 1,600 football fans were given banning orders preventing them from travelling to Euro 2024.

The fixture has historically been problematic, and a meeting between the two sides in 1995 was abandoned because of violence in the stadium. However, since England’s return in 2015, there have not been incidents of the same magnitude.

England have only played Ireland three times this century, with the first two matches in 2013 and 2015 finishing in draws. But the three lions ran out 3-0 winners in November 2020, although this will be the first competitive match between the teams since the 1990 World Cup.