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Geoff Pearson

@profgeoffpearson

Prof of Law and Co-Director of Research at Manchester University's Law Dept. Socio-legal research interests in human rights, policing, public order, crowd management, football "hooliganism", Ethnography, and sports law.

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28.10.2024
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Latest posts by Geoff Pearson @profgeoffpearson

I hope he puts the knife into that hapless idiot Skywalker, who can't even manage a routine landing when the conditions are a little drizzly.

03.03.2026 20:36 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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"We called London a war zone and moved to Dubai by mistake"

03.03.2026 08:16 πŸ‘ 6591 πŸ” 1563 πŸ’¬ 91 πŸ“Œ 45

It's bold for an American president to invoke World War II in order to criticise the British for being late to a war.

03.03.2026 17:58 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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David Squires on … Gianni Infantino’s accomplishments in 10 years as Fifa supremo Our cartoonist on a decade of magic moments in the big job for world football’s leading β€˜man of the people’

Here’s this week’s cartoon for @sport.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com/football/pic...

03.03.2026 11:45 πŸ‘ 94 πŸ” 22 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 2
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Very proud of the Stretford End today.
www.nytimes.com/athletic/707...

01.03.2026 17:54 πŸ‘ 21 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Call me cynical, but I'm beginning to think the Board of Peace may not be all it's cracked up to be.

28.02.2026 11:10 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Bargain. Brilliant book.

28.02.2026 11:06 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Irish Independent: Man stole three coffee machines in a week from Monaghan department store.

Irish Independent: Man stole three coffee machines in a week from Monaghan department store.

How does he sleep at night?

25.02.2026 09:14 πŸ‘ 3600 πŸ” 605 πŸ’¬ 98 πŸ“Œ 53

The Mandleson arrest is just the type that could end up in litigation. Officers often struggle to apply arrest necessity lawfully, but this instead looks to be an issue of the reasonableness of the belief in the arrest reason (presumably PACE s24(5)(f)). Hence, the intel that MPS relied on is key.

24.02.2026 19:30 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
β€œTelevision interview screenshot of FIFA President Gianni Infantino speaking indoors against an ornate gold-and-cream backdrop. On-screen subtitle reads, β€˜That’s part of the market that we are in. Prices for some matches will go up, some will remain stable.’ Lower-third banner says β€˜FIFA Pres. on World Cup Tickets’ with CNBC Money Movers branding.”

β€œTelevision interview screenshot of FIFA President Gianni Infantino speaking indoors against an ornate gold-and-cream backdrop. On-screen subtitle reads, β€˜That’s part of the market that we are in. Prices for some matches will go up, some will remain stable.’ Lower-third banner says β€˜FIFA Pres. on World Cup Tickets’ with CNBC Money Movers branding.”

FIFA said it wouldn’t use dynamic pricing for World Cup tickets. In a totally unsuprising move, its president has now openly said it will.

Dynamic ticket pricing risks reduced transparency & prices ordinary fans out.

πŸ”— Statement with Euroconsumers: https://bit.ly/40qLNka

24.02.2026 15:08 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

"Your personal life is your own business, as long as you act within a framework of which I personally approve."

24.02.2026 12:41 πŸ‘ 26 πŸ” 11 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 0

Will sadly also see the end of the northern tradition of groups of pensioners hanging around bus stop asking "are we twirly?"

22.02.2026 12:15 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Indeed, quite often it can merely indicate they are throwing everything at it because they don't have a single watertight claim. I have the same view of claims containing lots of Latin.

20.02.2026 10:00 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

What is going on with that lazy AI cover? Those are darts, not longbow arrows. You are confusing Robin Hood and Luke Littler.

19.02.2026 23:38 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Gold seized at Manchester Airport worth Β£1.8m awarded to police Greater Manchester Police awarded haul after stopping a man attempting to fly abroad with five gold bars.

Nice to see a policing news story (and a local one) with a happy ending. Under the Proceeds of Crime Act and Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme, half the recovered funds will go to charities and community groups in Greater Manchester.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

19.02.2026 21:00 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Surely an Equality Act klaxon here?

19.02.2026 19:56 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
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Palestine Action: why the High Court ruled against the government, and what it means for the future of protest The court found Palestine Action’s activities had not yet reached the level, scale and persistence that would justify proscription.

theconversation.com/palestine-ac...

18.02.2026 14:18 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Halcyon Calcio: The beginning of our β€œGolden Era”, why Serie A was cooler than the Premiership - It’s a sepia tinted memory in all of our minds, Saturday mornings with our cereal sat in the living room watching James Richardson bring us the best of that week’sRead More

New on the Gentleman Ultra from The Calcio Blog...

Halcyon Calcio: The beginning of our β€œGolden Era”, why Serie A was cooler than the Premiership

www.gentlemanultra.com/2026/02/17/h...

18.02.2026 14:24 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
Photo of a running shoe

Photo of a running shoe

New research by Dr Caroline Miles & Professor Rosemary Broad, @criminologyuom.bsky.social @manchester.ac.uk finds 68% of women runners surveyed in Greater Manchester & Merseyside experienced abuse while running β€” yet only 5% reported it to police.

blog.policy.manchester.ac.uk/posts/2024/1...

18.02.2026 14:07 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

It's impossible to identify the extent to which disorder at football increased post lockdown as the existing stats measures are, in different ways, very limited. But as you found here, both police and safety/security clearly *believed* there was an increase, which would also make sense in football.

18.02.2026 12:00 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Climber on trial for leaving girlfriend to die on Austria's highest mountain Kerstin G's boyfriend is accused of leaving her unprotected and exhausted close to the summit during a blizzard.

A tragic case, but one that will be of interest to those with interests in either #sportslaw or #criminallaw. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

18.02.2026 09:49 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

An image brought to you by the same AI that some folk want driving cars, carrying out brain surgery, and in charge of our nuclear deterrent.

18.02.2026 09:26 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Looks a great methodology, John. And very relatable findings to other crowd gatherings?

18.02.2026 08:56 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Understanding the β€œnew” disruptive behavior at live music events: Group normative (mis)alignment and collective self-regulation
Now published in ASAP journal.

Please share.

spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

16.02.2026 08:33 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 2
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17.02.2026 17:35 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Yes, it's everywhere. And some of the pieces I've apparently published are excellent collaborations with people I've never met in journals that have never accepted my work. Peer reviewing now more important than ever.

17.02.2026 09:29 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Cartoon. Person says to other person β€žWe invented a robot that answers questions.β€œ, adding, β€žwe just have to feed it 10 baby giraffes a dayβ€œ. The other person asks β€žBut it answers the questions correctly?β€œ Person responds β€žOh my goodness, no. No no no no no.β€œ

By Aram J. French

Appropriated due to missing alt text

Cartoon. Person says to other person β€žWe invented a robot that answers questions.β€œ, adding, β€žwe just have to feed it 10 baby giraffes a dayβ€œ. The other person asks β€žBut it answers the questions correctly?β€œ Person responds β€žOh my goodness, no. No no no no no.β€œ By Aram J. French Appropriated due to missing alt text

12.02.2026 13:44 πŸ‘ 12663 πŸ” 4119 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 61

This is basically the introduction to every article submitted to the law REF this time around.

14.02.2026 00:42 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

A good early analysis of today's Palestine Action case. Once again, the final limb of the proportionality test looks like it will be causing problems.

13.02.2026 16:27 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Pretty much the only thing that is guaranteed if someone starts booing at a football match is someone else shouting "stop f---ing booing!". It causes as many 'in tribe' scraps as anything.

13.02.2026 15:54 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0