Football-related arrests hit 2,584 for 2023-24 season as Home Office release statistics – with West Ham, Man City and Man United fans worst offenders

A total of 2,584 football-related arrests were made in England and Wales during the 2023-24 season, an increase on last year’s record number.

The Interior Ministry released figures for the season showing a 14 percent increase on the previous year, when 2,264 arrests were made.

The increase is attributed to a growing number of arrests for possession of Class A drugs, which was 144 higher than the previous year.

A further 180 arrests were made in England and Wales in connection with Euro 2024, compared to the number of arrests at foreign tournaments in the previous season.

‘Possession of Class A drugs became a Schedule 1 offence in November 2022 for the 2022/23 season. Arrests in England and Wales for offences committed in England and Wales in relation to overseas tournaments have only been recorded since the 2022/23 season,’ the Home Office said.

‘Therefore, the increase in the number of arrests related to these offences is likely to be partly due to improved recording and reporting of these football-related arrests.

‘Excluding arrests for possession of Class A drugs (344) and arrests in England and Wales in connection with foreign tournaments (281; all of which related to Euro 2024 in Germany), there were 1,959 arrests in the 2023/24 season, a similar number to the 2022/23 season (1,963; excluding arrests for Class A drugs and arrests in England and Wales in connection with foreign tournaments).

‘Before the 2019-2020 season, there was a downward trend in football-related arrests; a 26% decrease over 4 seasons, from 1,873 in the 2014-2015 season to 1,381 in the 2018-2019 season (pre-COVID-19).

‘Post-COVID-19, the number of arrests, excluding those related to possession of Class A drugs and those in England and Wales related to overseas tournaments, has risen to levels comparable to the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.’

A total of 417 football-related arrests were made at or in connection with national team matches. Of the 291 arrests in England and Wales, 281 were in relation to Euro 2024.

According to the Ministry of the Interior, 126 people were arrested in Germany during the tournament.

On August 1, a total of 2,172 football bans were in effect, an increase of 21 percent compared to the previous year.

This follows 825 new banning orders issued during the 2023-24 season. The figure is the highest in a season since 2010-11 – when 960 banning orders were issued.

Men account for 99.4 percent of driving bans, accounting for 2,159. About 68 percent, 1,480 of the people subject to a driving ban, were between 18 and 34 years old. Three percent of the 58 people subject to a driving ban were 17 years old or younger.

West Ham had the highest number of fans arrested and stadium bans issued this season

The club’s involvement in European football in recent seasons has been cited as a factor

West Ham supporters have received the highest number of football bans, with 93. This is the first time the club has topped the list, followed by Manchester United with 89 and Millwall with 82.

Everton and Leicester completed the top five with 72.

West Ham top the list of football-related arrests for the third year in a row, with 103 in 2023-24.

The Premier League club highlighted the proactive policing at the London Stadium and the fact that they have played European football in recent seasons as contributing factors, saying that robust systems and procedures are in place on matchdays.

A zero tolerance policy was also implemented towards discrimination by home and away fans, with the club saying it was working with the relevant authorities to re-educate fans who have committed offences.

The club also welcomed the Metropolitan Police’s Violence Against Women and Girls Unit, which provided additional training to staff on matchdays to encourage incident reporting.

Both Manchester City and Manchester United saw 88 fans arrested during the season, with Arsenal and Chelsea rounding out the top five with 85 and 67 respectively.

Leeds United had the biggest drop in arrests, down 46 on the previous season. This followed the club having the biggest increase in arrests with 25 in 2022-23.

West Brom saw the biggest increase in arrests compared to the 2022-23 season, from 11 to 51. Of West Brom’s arrests, 38 were in the FA Cup.

The club’s home FA Cup match against Wolves – the first meeting between the Black Country rivals since 2012 – was overshadowed by widespread crowd disruption.

West Brom saw the biggest increase in arrests during the 2023-24 football season

West Brom’s FA Cup tie with rivals Wolves was suspended for 38 minutes due to crowd trouble

Fights had broken out in the stands and missiles had been thrown as fans stormed onto the pitch, leading to the FA Cup tie being postponed for 38 minutes.

The Ministry of the Interior also reported a significant increase in the number of incidents of online hate crimes, with the number of incidents rising from 234 to 423 in the previous season.

A total of 317 cases were linked to the men’s domestic football season and five to women’s football, while 101 cases were linked to the England internationals.

The Home Office said the increase was likely due to better reporting rather than an increase in the number of hate crime incidents online.