The Touchline Trap: Why Filming Close-Up Incidents at Non-League Matches Carries Legal Risk

Non-league football offers a uniquely intimate experience. Fans often stand just feet away from the pitch, offering unparalleled views of the action. This proximity enhances the drama, but when that drama turns into a serious accident, the closeness that makes the game special also increases the potential legal jeopardy for fans filming on their smartphones.

Experts warn that in scenarios where fans are close enough to capture immediate distress, those filming and sharing footage risk breaking current laws without even realising it.

The Proximity Problem: From Action Shot to Privacy Breach

In smaller stadia, fans are virtually on top of the pitch, making the difference between capturing a great goal and capturing a medical emergency negligible.

Generally, the law in the UK is permissive regarding filming in public. Legal expert Theodore Martin, of Ex Offender Grants, an organisation that supports people with criminal backgrounds and helps them access financial help states:

“Many members of the public seem to believe that they can’t be filmed without giving consent, which isn’t true”. He clarifies that “In the UK, it is not against the law to film someone in public. That’s because it’s very hard for anyone in a public space to claim that they have a reasonable expectation of privacy”. As a rule, “if you’re in public, you can expect to be recorded. CCTV is everywhere and even self-service checkouts film you without capturing your consent on the basis that you do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy,” says Martin.

However, this proximity to the action means fans are often closer to the aftermath of an injury than they would be at a large Premier League ground. Martin warns: “This does not mean that content creators can simply shove a camera in someone’s face without any legal consequences”.

The Expectation of Privacy: Injury and Distress

The law recognises specific scenarios where a person, even in a public space, retains a reasonable expectation of privacy. These scenarios include people suffering medical emergencies, people in distress and victims of crime.

These actions are potentially governed by the Human Rights Act 1998 or the Data Protection Act 2018, which exist to protect people from having others meddle in their private affairs.

The law treats the act of making images of people and publishing them “very differently”, explains Mr. Martin.

“Let’s say for example you’re filming at a popular tourist destination, like Trafalgar Square. By chance, someone in the frame has an accident or falls ill. What you do next can and will influence whether or not you breach any of that person’s rights,” a dilemma directly applicable to capturing an injury near the touchline.

This legal principle was supported in the 2004 case involving Naomi Campbell, who successfully sued a newspaper for publishing photos of her leaving a Narcotics Anonymous meeting, arguing she had a reasonable expectation of privacy despite being in public.

The Ethical and Legal Risk of Sharing Serious Incidents

When a player suffers a severe injury—especially one requiring immediate medical attention close to the stands—the privacy rights of that individual are immediately heightened.

Mr. Martin explains: “Most reasonable people would not even think about sharing a video of an innocent person in distress, regardless of where they were,” some proceed to post content publicly on sites like TikTok or YouTube, hoping for it to go viral. In those more extreme scenarios, “it’s possible that the subject’s rights could have been breached”.

Crucially, under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a person’s health status is defined as “special category data”. If a fan publicly shares a video of a footballer receiving medical attention for a serious injury, they may be “breaching that part of the regulation by disclosing a person’s health status”.

Think of a non-league stadium as a living room: You’re allowed to be there, but filming someone who falls ill or is seriously injured while in that space is akin to meddling in their private affairs, which is exactly what data protection laws are designed to prevent.