Geoff Pearson

@profgeoffpearson.bsky.social

1.3K followers 350 following 240 posts

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.

Videos

Political science 47%

Sociology 29%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Geoff Pearson @profgeoffpearson.bsky.social · 19h

Cook Pass ICE
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articl...

Gus Kenworthy: British freestyle skier will not be punished for graphic ICE message

Team GB skier Gus Kenworthy will not be punished after appearing to urinate a graphic message about the United States' immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) in the snow, then posting a photograph ...

www.bbc.co.uk

Reposted by Geoff Pearson

uomlaw.bsky.social @uomlaw.bsky.social · 1d

We are thrilled to announce that our teaching and research staff, @lewisgrahamlaw.bsky.social and @lucyfrith.bsky.social, have had their books shortlisted for the @slsauk.bsky.social Prizes 2026. Congratulations! @uomsoss.bsky.social @uomhums.bsky.social

Geoff Pearson @profgeoffpearson.bsky.social · 2d

The biggest of #SportsLaw klaxons for this.
www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/f...

‘Penis injection’ claims in Winter Olympics ski jumping investigated by Wada

Wada is to investigate claims ski jumpers are injecting acid into their penises to game the suit-measuring system

www.theguardian.com

Geoff Pearson @profgeoffpearson.bsky.social · 3d

Well this is all starting to look a bit of a mess.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Palestine Action protesters not guilty of defence firm burglary

The group are cleared of aggravated burglary over a raid at an Elbit Systems warehouse.

www.bbc.co.uk

Geoff Pearson @profgeoffpearson.bsky.social · 3d

30 seconds after you submit the article.

Geoff Pearson @profgeoffpearson.bsky.social · 4d

They will need a particular setting for when there's a football match on and the normal rules of the road don't apply.

Caroline Russell @carolinerussell.bsky.social · 5d

“Jaywalking is permitted in London. In 1966, the police tried to crack down on it, but gave up after three months.”

People walk and cycle on roads by right, people drive under licence.

Jaywalking is not a thing in English law and Waymo must not change that.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Self-driving taxis are coming to London – should we be worried? | Jack Stilgoe

Waymo’s cars were first rolled out in San Francisco, but the English capital’s old roads, pelican crossings and jaywalkers may pose issues for AI, says science and technology professor Jack Stilgoe

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Will Jennings, Andrew Scott, Lesley A. Hall , and 7 more Will Jennings, Andrew Scott, Lesley A. Hall, Mike Rowe, Michael H. Whitworth, Stephen Jones, Geoff Pearson, Katrina Navickas, Jack Stilgoe, Steven H. Seggie

Caroline Russell @carolinerussell.bsky.social · 5d

Self-driving taxis are coming to London – should we be worried? | Jack Stilgoe

www.theguardian.com

Geoff Pearson @profgeoffpearson.bsky.social · 5d

I always took down my decorations immediately after twelfth night and yet, 16 years ago, a goblin took up residence in my house and has been causing mischief in it ever since.

Reposted by Steve Peers, Geoff Pearson

dag @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 5d

Today is Candlemas

If you have not cleared all your Christmas decorations by today, a demon hiding behind them will cause dire mischief in your house for the rest of the year.

See my popular post on this: emptycity.substack.com/p/twelfth-ni...

"Twelfth Night Till Candlemas"

The story of a forty-year book-quest and of its remarkable ending

emptycity.substack.com

Reposted by Geoff Pearson

Matt Ford @matt4d.bsky.social · 8d

After Bayern Munich (at home to Union SG) and Eintracht Frankfurt (away at Qarabag), Young Boys are the third fan scene to successfully circumvent a collective UEFA punishment this season.

Reposted by Geoff Pearson

Matt Ford @matt4d.bsky.social · 8d

VfB Stuttgart at home to Young Boys in the Europa League this evening - and ultras from the Ostkurve Bern in an improvised away end at the Neckarstadion after circumventing a UEFA ban with help from their Stuttgart counterparts.

Geoff Pearson @profgeoffpearson.bsky.social · 9d

I lost all respect for him after his p!ss poor selection choices for the Fellowship of the Ring.

Reposted by Geoff Pearson

Nick Harris @sportingintel.bsky.social · 9d

A dozen questions about the end game of Manchester City's "115" case, and its aftermath
sportingintelligence832.substack.com/p/a-dozen-qu...

A dozen questions about the end game of Manchester City's "115" case, and its aftermath

The Premier League began investigating alleged rule-breaking by Man City in late 2018, charging them with 115 rule breaches in 2023. Into an eighth year, the case rumbles on

sportingintelligence832.substack.com

Reposted by Geoff Pearson

Football Supporters Europe @fanseurope.org · 9d

✈️ Followed your team away to a #UCL match last night? We want to hear from you.

🗣️ From ticketing & travel to accessibility & stewarding — share your experience, good or bad, in FSE's 2025/26 #AwayFanSurvey.

👉 Take part: https://bit.ly/4oMENsO

Reposted by Ben H. Ansell, Will Jennings, Steve Peers , and 9 more Ben H. Ansell, Will Jennings, Steve Peers, Albert Weale, Tim Bale, Dave O’Brien, Martin Shaw, Philip Cowley, Ben Rosamond, Geoff Pearson, Pauline Stafford, Tarik Abou‐Chadi

Rob Ford @robfordmancs.bsky.social · 10d

New Swingometer! The Gorton and Denton By-election: A tale of Two Manchesters

open.substack.com/pub/swingome...

The Gorton and Denton by-election: a tale of two Manchesters?

open.substack.com

Geoff Pearson @profgeoffpearson.bsky.social · 10d

I can feel my quantitatively minded colleagues becomning as cross as my spellchecker.

Reposted by Steve Peers, Geoff Pearson

Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 15d

Where are the poppy patriots? Why are they completely silent on this grotesque insult to our armed forces and specifically the 2,000 UK service and civilian personnel who were injured and the 457 who died in Afghanistan?

Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · 15d

imagine being the father or mother or son or daughter or sibling of one of those brave British troops who died in Afghanistan, and having to listen to this crass ignorance

Geoff Pearson @profgeoffpearson.bsky.social · 16d

We set out our arguments more clearly here, using a number of case studies of 'intelligence led' football operations, some of which were superb, some of which were a shambles. But very few operations, good or bad, played out how the intelligence suggested they would.

Geoff Pearson @profgeoffpearson.bsky.social · 16d

There were examples of (even anonymous) social media posts being included in intelligence reports so unsurprisingly that Google & AI are sometimes used. There are of course many examples of good practice & it should be remembered that generally UK football policing is years ahead of most countries.

Geoff Pearson @profgeoffpearson.bsky.social · 16d

Combined with an understandable risk-averse approach to policing football and the way police resource can be locked into fixtures at an early stage, good quality intelligence rarely leads to a downgraded risk categorisation, while poor quality information can increase risk it.

Geoff Pearson @profgeoffpearson.bsky.social · 16d

This was inevitable unfortunately. It's as much to do with how football intelligence is gathered/used as it is the appeal of AI tools. Cliff Stott & I have written on football intel and observed a number of patterns. The gap between information & intelligence in this arena can be vanishingly thin.

Geoff Pearson @profgeoffpearson.bsky.social · 17d

Following hot on the heels of Ming the Merciless, Grand Moff Tarkin, and Sauron. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Israeli PM Netanyahu agrees to join Trump's Board of Peace

Israel is the latest country to publicly accept an invitation to Trump's new organisation, joining Albania, Bahran, Hungary, Morocco and the UAE.

www.bbc.co.uk

Geoff Pearson @profgeoffpearson.bsky.social · 17d

Sky Sports have decided that 20.00 on a Friday night is the most appropriate kick-off time for Bournemouth v Man Utd. The last train back to Manchester leaves Bournemouth 15 minutes before kick-off. #mufc

Geoff Pearson @profgeoffpearson.bsky.social · 17d

This pair have been an absolute menace for the duration of me trying to write the Human Rights and Policing book. I really could do with the opposite of an Acknowledgements section to reference them in.

Geoff Pearson @profgeoffpearson.bsky.social · 17d

Feels different down here. Pretty much everyone I know who qualified as a teacher has left the profession.

Geoff Pearson @profgeoffpearson.bsky.social · 17d

Quantifiably, looks like 87% more history there. That's #science. Now how do I tag in Prof Hannah Fry?

Reposted by Geoff Pearson

University of Manchester School of Social Sciences @uomsoss.bsky.social · 17d

📢 When Power Replaces Law

New analysis by Dr @yusrasuedi.bsky.social @manchester.ac.uk @uomlaw.bsky.social examines what the Venezuela–US crisis reveals about the fragility of the international legal order — and why it matters for global stability.

👉 www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/w...

When Power Replaces Law: Venezuela, the United States, and the Fragility of the International Legal Order

Recent reports that the United States has launched military strikes in Venezuela and captured President Nicolás Maduro and his wife mark one of the clearest violations of international law in recent d...

www.manchester.ac.uk

Geoff Pearson @profgeoffpearson.bsky.social · 18d

They are the worst in Europe. And show absolutely no interest in improving.

Reposted by Geoff Pearson

Football Supporters Europe @fanseurope.org · 18d

“The way the French police football games is completely outdated… it doesn’t meet any of the modern standards of de-escalation.”

FSE Executive Director Ronan Evain on the dangerous treatment of fans by French authorities & the failure to learn lessons from the 2022 UCL final.

📰 nyti.ms/4quGGuK

French police, football fans, and a history of violence: 'They don’t care'

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Steve Peers, Geoff Pearson

Vanessa Enriquez-Rios @pt007.bsky.social · 19d

@garymarcus.bsky.social: Two Boston University law professors, Woodrow Hartzog and Jessica Silbey, just posted preprint of a new paper that blew me away, called How AI Destroys Institutions. I urge you to read—and reflect—on it, ASAP.

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

How AI Destroys Institutions

Civic institutions—the rule of law, universities, and a free press—are the backbone of democratic life. They are the mechanisms through which complex societies

papers.ssrn.com

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