JUST Stop Oil activists plan to target a Premier League game every weekend of the coming season — by glueing themselves to turnstiles, posts and even pitches.
Protesters are aiming to slow march in front of fan traffic around grounds before invading the playing surface during the match in a bid to gain “maximum impact” for their cause.
Their plans to try to disrupt the Premier League, which is watched worldwide, follows several months of disturbances by the eco-protesters at UK sporting events.
One JSO leader told his troops: “The Prem’s our Holy Grail.
“We’re going to go for it.”
The proposals were discussed in front of an undercover reporter, who infiltrated a tactics meeting of the orange powder-flinging pests.
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It emerged there that JSO are hell-bent on echoing member Louis McKechnie’s stunt of using a zip-tie to attach himself by the neck to a goalpost during a match.
McKechnie, 21, was jailed for six weeks for aggravated trespass at the Everton versus Newcastle clash at Goodison Park in March.
The senior JSO member said: “We’re looking to mobilise properly so we can target one match every weekend this season.
“We’ll be travelling all over the country.
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“It’s all about being organised, getting the people to the games and in the right positions.
“We can offer more advice on this at a later date.”
The man, in his 50s, added: “We want to be in a position where people expect disruption.
“We want to get into the minds of fans, players and staff that each weekend we’ve got something on.
“We’re very organised with our slow marches and we can mobilise like that for the Premier League.
“We want to ram home our message.”
The unnamed activist, based in southern England, went on: “We need to get tighter around our social media planning and around ticket purchasing for the matches.
“We know the clubs will be aware we will be targeting them so we need to stay one step ahead.
“Once we’re in, there’s a lot of opportunities like glueing ourselves to the ticket turnstiles on the gates. That would cause chaos.
“Or getting on the pitch to glue ourselves to the grass or goalposts.
“We can slow march in the streets around stadiums on match days to cause local traffic chaos.”
Just Stop Oil’s headline-grabbing stunts this year have included an invasion at Lord’s during the second Ashes test in June.
England wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow carried one trespasser off the playing area.
A demonstrator scattered orange confetti during a match at Wimbledon while another targeted The Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club on the Wirral — both last month.
Yet another threw orange powder after climbing on a table at the Snooker World Championship at Sheffield’s Crucible in April.
The Grand National, Derby and British Grand Prix were also targeted.
Tory MP Nigel Mills said: “The police need to throw the book at these people.
“They’re committing crimes and must be dealt with.”
As to the Premier League, he added: “Millions go to football matches every year for enjoyment after a week of working hard.
“They don’t deserve to have it disrupted.”
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The Premier League was approached for comment.
Sources said league chiefs were “very aware” of the threat from JSO.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
