A stadium chief has told how it was “not uncommon” for drones to be flown over football grounds.
Phil Armitage, operations manager at the John Smith’s Stadium, was in the control room at the Huddersfield Town v Liverpool game when a drone hovered overhead.
He was speaking after a 38-year-old man was arrested outside the ground on Wednesday night.
Mr Armitage said the stadium safety team were well aware of drones and the potential risk they posed.
He said: “Drones are very sophisticated in the way you control them but some aren’t and they could literally drop out of the sky, then we also have to think about the terrorism risk.”
See the drone flying over last night's match
Mr Armitage told how the stadium safety team in the control room despatched police officers and stewards outside the ground as soon as the drone appeared and then directed them to where the drone was heading.
In the second half of Town’s 2-0 defeat play was halted by the referee after a drone buzzed the stadium. The drone hovered for around five minutes before heading off.
Police arrested a 38-year-old Huddersfield man in nearby Town Avenue.
A police spokesman said: “A 38-year-old man from Huddersfield was arrested on suspicion of flying a small unmanned aircraft with a mass of over 7kg at a height of more than 400ft. This a breach of civil aviation regulations.
“He has been bailed pending further enquiries.”
Last September Nigel Wilson, 42, of Bingham, Nottinghamshire, was fined £1,800 for flying drones over Premier League football grounds – including Liverpool’s Anfield stadium – and the Palace of Westminster and also near Buckingham Palace.
Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard that police horses were startled by the device as Wilson flew it at a Champions League group stage game between Liverpool and Ludogorets at Anfield.
The married father-of-two also filmed a Derby County-Reading Championship clash, an Arsenal-Tottenham derby and Manchester City’s game with Tottenham at the Etihad Stadium.
