Police report 18% rise in disorder for last season

The number of football matches in England and Wales with reported incidents of disorder increased by 18% during the 2024-25 season, according to latest policing figures.

The Home Office says the number of reported incidents rose from 1,341 in 2023-24 to 1,583 and include football-related violence, disorder, anti-social behaviour and harm.

It means at least one incident was reported at more than half of the 3,090 matches played last season from the Premier League down to the National League and games in FA Cup, League Cup, Football League Trophy, Champions League, Europa League, Conference League and international fixtures.

The number of arrests, however, dropped by 11% from 2,167 to 1,932 – a first decrease since fans returned to the stadiums after the Covid-19 pandemic.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council said the “worrying level of offending at men’s football matches across the country” is putting an increased strain on the police.

“Policing men’s football creates significantly more demand than any other event in terms of public order deployments nationally, meaning every week, officers are taken away from policing communities to facilitate matches.”

He added “the police are subsidising clubs that quite happily spend up to a £1bn in a single transfer window.”

Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, the head of the Metropolitan Police, also said earlier this month the clubs must pay towards the £70m cost of policing their matches every year.

Hate crime, reported at 420 matches last season, was the most common incident while 287 were related to race, 140 to sexual orientation, 20 to religion, 19 to disability and three to gender identity.

Manchester United had 121 fans arrested during the season – more than an any other club in the top six tiers of English football.

Manchester City were second with 94 arrests and West Ham, who had the most arrests in each of the previous three seasons, followed with 77 arrests.

The most common offences for arrest were public disorder (32%), violent disorder (22%) and the possession of Class A drugs (19%).

Rules introduced ahead of the 2022-23 season mean anyone caught in possession of Class A drugs in connection with football faces a five-year ban.

The number of online hate crimes also decreased from 322 in 2023-24 to 212 last season. Of these, 199 were related to men’s game and 13 to women’s.

Policing minister Diana Johnson said: “Police up and down the country work incredibly hard to ensure football stadiums are safe, so we can all enjoy our national game.